Brotherhood ideology influenced terrorists, says UAE
Gargash was reacting to a New York Times story cautioning against alienating US allies
Dubai: The Muslim Brotherhood’s ideology had influenced many leading terrorists, including Al Qaida’s late chief Osama Bin Laden, Emirati Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash noted on Sunday.
“It is very difficult to explain/ understand why many major terrorist figures (Bin Ladin et al.) “dallied” with Brotherhood teachings & organization prior to moving “hard core” terrorism,” the official said in a tweet.
He was commenting on an article by correspondent David Kirkpatrick this week in the New York Times about US President Donald Trump’s proposal to designate the Brotherhood as a terrorist group.
Kirkpatrick cautioned that the designation risks alienating some US allies such as Turkey, Qatar and Jordan, which he said had aligned themselves with the Brotherhood, or integrated its affiliates into their political systems.
“I thought David Kirkpatrick’s piece (NYT 10 May) on the Muslim Brotherhood gingerly avoided the link between violence & incitement & the group’s ideology,” Gargash tweeted.
“The fact that all parts of the Brotherhood subscribe to Sayyid Qutb’s teachings is difficult to ignore,” he added, referring to the Islamist group’s ideologue known for militant views.
The Brotherhood was created in Egypt in 1928. It has since been repeatedly outlawed in its homeland, the latest being in late 2013, months after the army’s overthrow of Islamist president Mohammad Mursi following enormous street protests against his brother.
In Egypt, the Brotherhood has been blamed for a spate of post-Mursi deadly attacks against security forces and the country’s minority Christians.
Besides Egypt, the Brotherhood is also banned in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
The three countries are also allies of the US.