Several Muslim Brotherhood Chapters Designated as Terror Groups by US
EGYPT – Several Muslim Brotherhood chapters from Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon were on Tuesday designated as terror groups by the US Department of State.
“Today, as a first step in support of President Trump’s commitment to eliminate the capabilities and operations of Muslim Brotherhood chapters that pose a threat to the United States as described in Executive Order 14362, the United States is imposing terrorist designs against the Lebanese, Jordanian, and Egyptian chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced in a statement.
Rubio said, “The Department of State is designing the Lebanese Muslim Brotherhood as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT), and the group’s leader Muhammad Fawzi Taqqosh, as an SDGT.”
Arguing that “the Department of the Treasury is designing the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood as SDGTs for providing material support to Hamas,” Rubio argued that the move mirrors “the opening actions of an ongoing, sustained effort to thwart Muslim Brotherhood chapters’ violence and destabilization wherever it occurs.”
“The United States will use all available tools to deprive these Muslim Brotherhood chapters of the resources to engage in or support terrorism,” he added.
The Treasury Department said in a separate statement that the move targets the group for support for “militant” organizations in the region.
Egypt Welcomes the Designation
Egyptian government on Tuesday welcomed the designation, calling it a significant step reflecting the danger posed by these groups with their extremist ideologies, both in Egypt and regional.
Egypt have locally classified the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization since the 2013 revolution.
“This stance was taken in defense of the will of the Egyptian people and to safeguard national institutions, as the terrorist organization sought to hijack the state and employ violence and terrorism to impose its destructive agenda,” the Egyptian statement said.
