Washington refuses to blacklist Muslim Brotherhood

The US has refused to designate the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organisation, stressing that there is insufficient credible proof that it has given up its decades-long commitment to refusing violence, Al-Jazeera.net reported yesterday.

The American decision came in response to a petition filed 16 months ago calling for the US administration to announce the worldwide Islamist group a terrorist organisation.

“We have not seen credible evidence that the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) has renounced its decades-long commitment to non-violence,” the White House said in response to the petition titled “We the People” which received 213,146 signatures.

“The United States does not condone political violence of any kind and we continue to press actors of all viewpoints to peacefully engage in the political process,” the White House said.

It continued: “The United States is committed to thwarting terrorist groups that pose a threat to US interests and those of our partners.”

The petition stated that the Islamist group “has a long history of violent killings and terrorising opponents. Also MB has direct ties with most terrorist groups like Hamas.

It continued: “We ask the US government to declare Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist group for a safer future for all of us.”

At the end of 2013, Egypt announced the group a terrorist organisation and Saudi Arabia took similar measures in March this year.

Last month, the UAE outlawed 83 organisations including the Muslim Brotherhood, and Jordan arrested a number of senior leaders and arrested members over charges related to terrorism.