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New Insights on MB Convictions in Egypt
A few days ago Jeff Breinholt, my colleague on the Counterterrorism Blog noted a valuable new web resource, the
Global Muslim Brotherhood Report, open to responsible researchers who are willing to provide a name and institutional affiliation.

Today the site gives a rundown on an extremely interesting case in Egypt, where five leaders of the international Muslim Brotehrhood were sentenced in abstentia to 10 years in prison for terrorism and money laundering.

Those convicted include some of the oldest and most venerated of the MB global structure:

These include Yousef Nada, Ali Ghaleb Hemmat, Ibrahim Farouk al-Zayyat, Fathi al-Khouli and Tawfeek al-Raey.

The sentencing was widely reported, but without some of the salient information the site offers.

Nada and Hemmat are relatively well known in the West because of their involvement in Bank al Taqwa, based in Nassau, Bahamas, and designated by the United States and the United Nations as a sponsor of terrorism. Nada and Hemmat are also listed as individuals supporting terrorism.

But the others sentenced are just as interesting. According to the site:

Ibrahim Farouk Al-Zayyat (aka Ibrahim El-Zayat) is the current leader of the German Muslim Brotherhood as well as an important figure in the European Muslim Brotherhood organization known as the Federation of Islamic Organizations in Europe (FIOE). At the time the original Egyptian indictments were issued, El-Zayat denied being associated with the Brotherhood and his name disappeared from the Egyptian Brotherhood online lists of indicted Brotherhood leaders. The German domestic intelligence agency has for years listed El-Zayat and his German organization as associated with the Muslim Brotherhood.

Fathi Al Khouli has been described by a U.K. Brotherhood site as more than 87 years old and who left Egypt fifty years ago.

Of course, the sentences were handed down by a repressive regime in Egypt, so it hardly meets the criteria for impartial and fair justice.

Given that at least two of those convicted are under international sanction for alleged support of al Qaeda, it would be extremely useful for the Egyptian government to make public the evidence against them.

An alternative would be for the Egyptians to show the evidence to international investigators in Switzerland, Germany, the United States and elsewhere that have investigations into the activities of Nada and Hemmat.

If it is real evidence and not something manufactured by the Egyptian state to target the Muslim Brotherhood, then it would likely be of great value in helping to find how the MB leaders move their money, and broaden the knowledge of their ties to terrorist organizations.

So far, Nada and Hemmat have largely made it through different investigations unscathed. It would help all, and greatly enhance the credibility of the Egyptian authorities, if the evidence were put up to international scrutiny.


POSTED BY DOUGLAS FARAH
The Muslim Brotherhood and Voting
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