Concerns Mount as Tensions Rise among Muslim Brotherhood Leaders

Muslim Brotherhood members on trial in Egypt (AFP)
Muslim Brotherhood members on trial in Egypt (AFP)
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Concerns Mount as Tensions Rise among Muslim Brotherhood Leaders

Muslim Brotherhood members on trial in Egypt (AFP)
Muslim Brotherhood members on trial in Egypt (AFP)

Muslim Brotherhood youth are concerned over the organization's future after tensions rose between the leaders living abroad.

Conflicts increased within the organization after the acting General Guide in Egypt, Ibrahim Mounir, decided to dismiss the former Secretary-General Mahmoud Hussein and several other leaders.

Mounir also referred the dismissed leader for investigation.

A researcher in fundamentalist movements in Egypt, Amr Abdel Moneim, said that the recent period had witnessed divisions between Mounir and Hussein's office, referred to as the "old office" and the "new office" of Mohammad Sharaf.

Abdel Moneim told Asharq Al-Awsat that controversy erupted in Turkey's office after Mounir's office dismissed Hussein's office and approved the new elections.

He explained that the administrative office in Turkey is important and receives financial aid of about $1,700,000 per month.

Abdel Moneim suggested that major disagreements erupted within the youth group after the young members abroad broke their silence and accused the leaders of both offices of creating chaos, failing the Shura council, disrupting administrative regulations for organizing, and siding with one group against another.



US Defers Removal of Some Lebanese, Citing Israel-Hezbollah Tensions

Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
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US Defers Removal of Some Lebanese, Citing Israel-Hezbollah Tensions

Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)

The United States is deferring the removal of certain Lebanese citizens from the country, President Joe Biden said on Friday, citing humanitarian conditions in southern Lebanon amid tensions between Israel and Hezbollah.

The deferred designation, which lasts 18 months, allows Lebanese citizens to remain in the country with the right to work, according to a memorandum Biden sent to the Department of Homeland Security.

"Humanitarian conditions in southern Lebanon have significantly deteriorated due to tensions between Hezbollah and Israel," Biden said in the memo.

"While I remain focused on de-escalating the situation and improving humanitarian conditions, many civilians remain in danger; therefore, I am directing the deferral of removal of certain Lebanese nationals who are present in the United States."

Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have been trading fire since Hezbollah announced a "support front" with Palestinians shortly after its ally Hamas attacked southern Israeli border communities on Oct. 7, triggering Israel's military assault in Gaza.

The fighting in Lebanon has killed more than 100 civilians and more than 300 Hezbollah fighters, according to a Reuters tally, and led to levels of destruction in Lebanese border towns and villages not seen since the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war.

On the Israeli side, 10 Israeli civilians, a foreign agricultural worker and 20 Israeli soldiers have been killed. Tens of thousands have been evacuated from both sides of the border.