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Liberal Democrats urge rapid rethink of the strategy surrounding Muslim Brotherhood investigation

May 4, 2014 at 11:24 am

The Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Party Committee on International Affairs has urged the British government to rethink its strategy and public investigation into the Muslim Brotherhood, the committee’s co-chair said in letter to Prime Minister David Cameron.


Member of Parliament for Cheltenham Martin Horwood expressed his “concern at your high profile announcement of a government investigation into the Muslim Brotherhood’s beliefs and nature.

“While a discreet review of any extreme or fundamentalist organisation might be useful for security or community policy-making, announcing such investigations in such a public way is liable to stoke controversy and resentment amongst Brotherhood supporters both in the UK and abroad, and possibly amongst the wider Muslim community.”

He went on to question the motives of such an act saying: “Nor is it really clear why the Brotherhood has been singled out in this way. The obvious allegation has already been made that this investigation has more to do with publicly pleasing the Saudis and the UAE and with potential commercial benefits to Britain.”

The committee urged the government to reconsider its handling of the situation in light of the fact that the Brotherhood has “been associated with peaceful political Islamist parties” around the Middle East.

While “in Egypt, they can reasonably claim to be the persecuted defenders of the legitimately elected government and hundreds of their supporters are facing death sentences which have been condemned by the UN,” Horwood explained.