Egypt court bans all Muslim Brotherhood activities

Monday 23-09-2013 02:32 PM
Egypt court bans all Muslim Brotherhood activities

Members of the Muslim Brotherhood speak behind a door with shattered glass at the Muslim Brotherhood headquarters, which was attacked two days ago, in Cairo in this December 8, 2012 file photo. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Files

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CAIRO, Sept 23 (Reuters) - An Egyptian court on Monday banned the Muslim Brotherhood from carrying out any activities in the country and ordered the seizure of the group's funds, widening a campaign to debilitate the Islamist movement of deposed President Mohamed Mursi.

"The court bans the activities of the Muslim Brotherhood organisation and its non-governmental organisation and all the activities that it participates in and any organisation derived from it," said the presiding judge Mohammed al-Sayed.

The court ordered the government to seize the Brotherhood's funds and administer its frozen assets.

The army-backed government is waging the toughest crackdown in decades on the Islamist group, which says it has a million members. Security forces killed hundreds of its supporters and rounded up thousands more since Mursi was deposed by the army on July 3 after mass protests against his rule.

The Brotherhood won parliamentary and presidential elections after veteran autocrat Hosni Mubarak was overthrown in 2011.

Army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's toppling of Mursi triggered a political crisis in the Arab world's most populous state, with the Brotherhood insisting that a military coup robbed them of power.

The court decision is likely to drive more Brotherhood members underground and it may encourage young Islamists to take up arms against the state.

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