Britain Orders Inquiry Into Muslim Brotherhood in London

[frigidmagi]

NYTimes

Prime Minister David Cameron has ordered an inquiry into the activities of the Muslim Brotherhood to determine whether it is using London as a base for planning extremist attacks following the military crackdown in Egypt, officials and news media reports said on Tuesday.

In the past, British governments have moved against small Islamic militant groups, but have tended to cast the Brotherhood, a prominent Islamic organization, in a different, more moderate light, particularly after Mohamed Morsi, the Brotherhood’s leader, was elected Egypt’s president in 2012. Mr. Morsi was overthrown last year by the Egyptian military, and Egypt and Saudi Arabia have since declared the Brotherhood a terrorist organization.

A spokeswoman for Mr. Cameron, speaking on the condition of anonymity under departmental rules, said the Brotherhood “has risen in prominence in recent years, but our understanding of the organization — its philosophy and values — has not kept pace with this.”

“Given the concerns now being expressed about the group and its alleged links to violent extremism, it’s absolutely right and prudent that we get a better handle of what the Brotherhood stands for, how they intend to achieve their aims and what that means for Britain,” the spokeswoman said.

The inquiry, to be headed by Sir John Jenkins, Britain’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia, is to complete its investigation by midsummer, officials said.

Word of the inquiry was first reported in The Times of London, which said leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood met in London last year to plan their response to Mr. Morsi’s overthrow. In Mr. Morsi’s place, a new government was installed by Abdul-Fattah el-Sisi, a former field marshal who announced his resignation from the army last week and formally entered the race for president.

The issue of foreign extremists using London as a base is particularly sensitive here. In the days surrounding the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, in the United States, the intelligence agencies of some European countries derisively labeled the British capital Londonistan — a reference to the ease with which Islamic militants were able to operate here.

British news media reports said the inquiry would draw on information from both the domestic security service, MI5, and the foreign intelligence agency, MI6. MI5 is to investigate the extent to which Brotherhood personnel have been able to take refuge in Britain since Mr. Morsi’s ouster. MI6 is to report on any involvement by the organization in terrorist activities, like an attack in February on a busload of tourists in the Sinai Peninsula in which three South Korean Christians and their Egyptian driver were killed.

Since Mr. Morsi’s ouster, militants operating mostly in northern Sinai have carried out hundreds of bombings, assassinations and at least one attack using a rocket-propelled grenade. The victims have included soldiers, police officers and Christian residents. But militants had not directly struck at Egyptian tourism, a source of millions of jobs and vital foreign currency.

The British inquiry comes amid behind-the-scenes pressure from Egypt and Saudi Arabia for Britain to outlaw the organization, but an official said the aim of the inquiry was “not about establishing evidence to proscribe” the group. Mr. Morsi, along with hundreds of his followers, is facing trial in Egypt on an array of charges.

Last month, when Saudi Arabia branded the Brotherhood a terrorist organization, the group’s response came in a statement from its London office, which said it was surprised and distressed by the Saudi decree.

Looks like the Brotherhood has offically been thrown under the bus. Not that the UK was really ever on their side. The Saudis on the other hand...