By Ashraf Abdul-Wahab.
Tripoli, 27 December 2013:
The Muslim Brotherhood in Libya has attacked the Egyptian government’s decision to classify the Brotherhood there . . .[restrict]as a terrorist organisation.
A spokesman for the Libyan Brotherhood, Bashir Al-Kubti, said the decision was a manoeuvre to put pressure on the group and keep it out of power.
The Brotherhood rejected terrorism in form and substance, Kubti insisted. Far from being involved in it, it was itself the victim of terrorism in Egypt, he claimed.
Kubti said that both democracy and the Brotherhood in Egypt were threatened by counter-revolutionary forces that wanted to reinstate the former regime.
The Muslim Brotherhood was declared a terrorist organisation by the Egyptian government on Wednesday. It held it responsible for the previous day’s bomb attack in Mansoura, which left at least 15 people dead and more than 100 injured, despite the fact that there was no evidence linking it to the incident and that it had itself condemned it. The Egyptian authorities are now threatening to take legal action against anyone who promotes or supports the movement.
A Salafist organisation, Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis, has since claimed responsibility for the bombing. However, there is equally no evidence to support its claim.
Although Libyan Brotherhood members could in theory be arrested in they travel to Egypt, Kubti pointed out the Egyptian decision does not directly affect the Brotherhood in Libya. It operates in the principle of partnership not domination, he said. [/restrict]
