Muslim Brotherhood responds to British terrorism probe

Supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood chant slogans and raise four fingers, the symbol known as "Rabaa", which means four in Arabic, remembering those killed in the crackdown on the Rabaa al-Adawiya protest camp in Cairo last year, during a demonstration in Cairo on January 24, 2014. A suicide bomber struck Cairo police headquarters on Friday, the first of three bombings in the Egyptian capital that killed five people ahead of the anniversary of the 2011 uprising. (AFP PHOTO/MAHMOUD KHALED) — Supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood chant slogans and raise four fingers, the symbol known as “Rabaa”, which means four in Arabic during a demonstration in Cairo on January 24, 2014.
(AFP PHOTO/MAHMOUD KHALED)

By Jake Lippincott

The Muslim Brotherhood Wednesday expressed surprise that the United Kingdom is unfamiliar with its “peaceful approach”, following the British Prime Minister’s announcement Tuesday that the country plans to open a wide-ranging investigation into the Islamist group’s “philosophy, activities and impact” and alleged links to “violent extremism”.

The Brotherhood “will never change its [peaceful] principles and Platform for Action no matter what,” the group said in a news release.

The Brotherhood statement also further distanced the group from a February bombing in the Egyptian border town of Taba that killed three Korean tourists and an Egyptian bus driver, saying the group “clearly and frankly condemned” the incident “in a timely manner”.

“It is strange that the Egyptian authorities, despite of all the slurs and lies they spread about the Muslim Brotherhood, have not been able to charge the group of being behind this incident, and that another group [Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis] admitted responsibility for the incident,” the statement read.

The Brotherhood warned Arab and western governments that the “military coup government” is working to “falsify facts” about the Brotherhood and the situation in Egypt in order to manipulate foreign governments into supporting government positions. The statement closes by reaffirming the Muslim Brotherhood’s “support of the oppressed …[and] human rights and freedoms.”

Representatives of the interim government have praised the British investigation. The office of Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy released a statement on Wednesday describing a phone conversation with his British counterpart, where they discussed the investigation and “all issues of mutual concern.”