Egypt Expects Britain to Ban Muslim Brotherhood Soon

The Grand Mufti delivers a speech before the British Houses of Commons and Lords (Egypt’s Dar al-Ifta)
The Grand Mufti delivers a speech before the British Houses of Commons and Lords (Egypt’s Dar al-Ifta)
TT

Egypt Expects Britain to Ban Muslim Brotherhood Soon

The Grand Mufti delivers a speech before the British Houses of Commons and Lords (Egypt’s Dar al-Ifta)
The Grand Mufti delivers a speech before the British Houses of Commons and Lords (Egypt’s Dar al-Ifta)

Egypt’s Grand Mufti Shawki Allam visited the United Kingdom earlier this week and delivered a speech at the House of Commons, highlighting the banned Muslim Brotherhood’s extremist approach.

Allam also distributed a documented English-language report to the lawmakers revealing the Brotherhood’s scandals and abuses and its association with violence.
Following Allam’s visit, officials in Dar al-Ifta expected that London would impose legal measures to ban the organization soon.

Senior Advisor to Egypt's Mufti Dr. Ibrahim Negm said the report reveals the bloody nature of the terrorist group.

He accused the group of seeking to distort the image of religious institutions and figures that reject its extremist ideology.

Negm stressed that Allam exposed to the world the flaws in the Brotherhood’s ideological structure, adding that it aims to destabilize societies and threaten global peace and security.

He said the Brotherhood’s multilingual media platforms have launched an organized campaign to spread falsified news and rumors against the state and its religious institutions.
The campaign claims that the religious institutions opposed to the group and its extremist approach are politicized.

Allam said in his report that the Brotherhood operated in two respects. Its members first represented themselves to the public as social reformers and opposition forces.

However, they secretly established an apparatus, which was responsible for carrying out terrorist operations and assassinations.



Syrian Police Impose Curfew in Homs after Unrest

Syrian children play on a damaged tank in Homs, on December 20, 2024. (AFP)
Syrian children play on a damaged tank in Homs, on December 20, 2024. (AFP)
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Syrian Police Impose Curfew in Homs after Unrest

Syrian children play on a damaged tank in Homs, on December 20, 2024. (AFP)
Syrian children play on a damaged tank in Homs, on December 20, 2024. (AFP)

Syrian police have imposed an overnight curfew in the city of Homs, state media reported, after unrest there linked to demonstrations that residents said were led by members of the minority Alawite and Shiite communities.

Reuters could not immediately confirm the demands of the demonstrators nor the degree of disturbance that took place.

Some residents said the demonstrations were linked to pressure and violence in recent days aimed at members of the Alawite minority, a sect long seen as loyal to former President Bashar al-Assad, who was toppled by opposition fighters on Dec. 8.

Spokespeople for Syria’s new ruling administration led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group, a former al-Qaeda affiliate, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the curfew.

State media said the curfew was being imposed for one night, from 6pm (1500 GMT) local time until 8am on Thursday morning.

The country's new leaders have repeatedly vowed to protect minority religious groups.

Small demonstrations also took place in other areas on or near Syria’s coast, where most of the country’s Alawite minority live, including in the city of Tartous.

The demonstrations took place around the time an undated video was circulated on social networks showing a fire inside an Alawite shrine in the city of Aleppo, with armed men walking around inside and posing near human bodies.

The interior ministry said on its official Telegram account that the video dated back to the opposition offensive on Aleppo in late November and the violence was carried out by unknown groups, adding that whoever was circulating the video now appeared to be seeking to incite sectarian strife.

The ministry also said that some members of the former regime had attacked interior ministry forces in Syria’s coastal area on Wednesday, leaving a number of dead and wounded.