Move is mostly symbolic, there has been no attempt to ban the Brotherhood's political wing, the Freedom and Justice Party.
By REUTERSMuslim Brotherhood supporters protest in Cairo 370(photo credit: Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters)
CAIRO - Egypt's army-backed government has decided to annul the Muslim Brotherhood's legal registration within days, a newspaper said on Friday, pressing a crackdown on deposed President Mohamed Morsi's movement.The move applies to the NGO registered by the Brotherhood in March in response to a lawsuit that argued the group had no legal status. It would mark a mostly symbolic legal blow to Morsi's group as the authorities round up its members in the harshest crackdown in decades.The privately-owned Al-Shorouk newspaper said the decision would be taken "within days," quoting Hany Mahana, spokesman for the minister of social solidarity.The same official was quoted by the state-run Al-Akhbar newspaper saying the decision was already taken."The minister's decision has in fact been issued but it will be announced at the start of next week in a press conference," it said.Mahana could not be reached for comment.A government official denied a decision had been taken.The Brotherhood won parliamentary and presidential elections after veteran autocrat Hosni Mubarak was overthrown in 2011 but the army deposed Morsi on July 3 in response to mass protests against his rule.The security forces have killed hundreds of Morsi's supporters and arrested many of its leaders on charges of inciting violence. There has so far been no attempt to ban its political wing, the Freedom and Justice Party.While short of a formal ban, the move underlined the government's determination to crush the Brotherhood. The authorities accuse the group that won five successive elections since 2011 of terrorism and inciting violence.But so far they have failed to snuff out nationwide demonstrations demanding the reinstatement of Morsi, ousted by the army on July 3 after mass protests, or stem a rise in militancy, which culminated on Thursday in an attempt to assassinate the interior minister in Cairo.The Brotherhood, sworn to peaceful protest, condemned the attack but urged its supporters to fill the streets of Egypt's towns and cities again on Friday, for the third time in eight days, to reject what it calls an army coup against democracy.Al-Akhbar said Social Solidarity Minister Ahmed el-Boraie's decision to dissolve the group as an NGO stemmed from accusations that the Brotherhood had used its headquarters to fire and store weapons and explosives.Brotherhood officials had failed to meet a deadline for responding to the accusations, it said.The General Federation of NGOs had sent a letter to the Ministry of Social Solidarity on Thursday giving its consent to the dissolution of the Brotherhood.Though formally outlawed under Mubarak, the Brotherhood was grudgingly tolerated for much of his presidency, taking part in parliamentary elections and operating a charity network that helped to it to become Egypt's biggest political party.The Brotherhood was founded in 1928 but formally dissolved by Egypt's army rulers in 1954. The group's opponents drew on that to argue the Brotherhood remained an illegal movement even after Mubarak's downfall.In response, the Brotherhood decided to shore up its legal standing by formally registering as an NGO.
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