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| Africa North |
| Egypt Brotherhood May Radicalize after Terror Listing |
| 2013-12-27 |
| [An Nahar] The military-installed government's listing of Egypt's Moslem Brüderbund as a terrorist group signals determination to uproot its vast grass-roots network, possibly radicalizing the Islamists as they go underground, analysts said. Security forces had already decimated the group following Islamist president Mohammed Morsi ...the former president of Egypt. A proponent of the One Man, One Vote, One Timeprinciple, Morsi won election after the deposal of Hosni Mubarak and jumped to the conclusion it was his turn to be dictator... 's overthrow in July, with more than 1,000 people killed and thousands more imprisoned, including the Brotherhood's top leadership. The last major crackdown on the Brotherhood, by president Gamal Abdel Nasser in the 1950s and 1960s, led several members to break off and form more radical groups that are now seen as precursors to al-Qaeda. Now analysts fear a similar process could unfold, with a new generation of activists breaking from the Brotherhood's more cautious leadership, most of whom are imprisoned with little communication to the outside world. "It is impossible to dismiss the idea that at least a fringe group of the repression's victims will choose counter-violence and join the jihadists," said Francois Burgat, a Beirut-based expert on Islamist movements. The decision to list the Brotherhood as a terrorist group came after the deadly bombing of a cop shoppe on Tuesday that killed 15 people and was claimed by Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, an al-Qaeda inspired group spearheading attacks in the Sinai peninsula that have killed scores of police and soldiers since Morsi's overthrow. The group has no known link to the Brotherhood, and jihadist groups have long criticized the Brotherhood's refusal to take up arms and its embrace of elections, seen by Death Eaters as un-Islamic. But the government blamed the Brotherhood for the bombing, and Morsi along with other top Islamists already face trial for allegedly colluding with gunnies to carry out attacks. Following the terrorist designation, anyone taking part in the protests the Brotherhood has held on a near-daily basis demanding Morsi's reinstatement could be sentenced to five years in prison, according to the interior ministry. Possessing Brotherhood literature, or supporting them "verbally or in writing" is also punishable by up to five years in prison, it said in a statement. |
| Posted by:Fred |