Aatef El-Baroudey, 55, an anti-Mursi supporter, carries posters and a cross and crescent to symbolize the unity of Egyptians before a protest by members of the Muslim Brotherhood and supporters of ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi in front of the El-Thadiya presidential palace in Cairo
CAIRO: A judicial panel set up by Egypt’s military-backed government backed a legal challenge to the status of the Muslim Brotherhood yesterday, compounding a drive to crush the movement behind the elected president deposed by the army in July.
While short of a formal ban on the Brotherhood, which worked underground for decades under Egypt’s previous military-backed rulers, the panel’s advice to a court to remove its NGO status threatens the million-member movement’s future in politics. An attack on a police station in central Cairo and plans for new mass protests by the Brotherhood today showed the stability the interim government says it took over to impose after two and a half years of turmoil is still elusive.
At least 900 people, most of them Islamist supporters of ousted President Mohammed Mursi, have been killed since the army takeover on July 3.
The government has accused the Brotherhood of inciting violence and terrorism, and arrested its leaders.
Egypt’s oldest political organisation, the Brotherhood won a series of elections after protesters forced out longtime ruler Hosni Mubarak in 2011, culminating in last year’s presidential vote.
It formally registered itself in March as a non-governmental organisation (NGO) to secure its legal status.
The judicial panel backed Brotherhood opponents who argued that the NGO registration was illegal because the Brotherhood-led government had effectively issued a licence to itself.
The panel’s recommendation to the court due to rule on the case is not binding, judicial sources said, adding that the court’s next session would be on November 12.
It adds to a whole array of steps taken against the Brotherhood since the army stepped in after mass protests against economic mismanagement and attempts to entrench the movement’s power during Mursi’s rule.
Reuters
