Egypt's Brotherhood under legal threat as bomb hits central Cairo
- 11 years ago
Just one day after Egypt's army-backed government referred deposed president Mohamed Mursi to trial, a judicial panel - also backed by the government -- recommended that his Islamist Muslim Brotherhood have its legal status formally removed.
It's short of an outright ban.
But the move to dissolve the Brotherhood's 'NGO status' threatens its future in Egyptian politics.
Still, this Cairo resident remembers the last time Egypt's previous military-backed rulers dissolved the Brotherhood, forcing them to go underground where they worked for decades, and eventually won the presidency.
(SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) CAIRO CITIZEN, ALI KANDIL, SAYING:
"[President] Nasser had once dissolved it and thought they were finished but all they did was join the international Muslim Brotherhood organization which then supported its Egyptian wing. If they're dissolved then they'll just work in secret. There must be rules that prevent the use of religion in politics, and to prevent an
It's short of an outright ban.
But the move to dissolve the Brotherhood's 'NGO status' threatens its future in Egyptian politics.
Still, this Cairo resident remembers the last time Egypt's previous military-backed rulers dissolved the Brotherhood, forcing them to go underground where they worked for decades, and eventually won the presidency.
(SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) CAIRO CITIZEN, ALI KANDIL, SAYING:
"[President] Nasser had once dissolved it and thought they were finished but all they did was join the international Muslim Brotherhood organization which then supported its Egyptian wing. If they're dissolved then they'll just work in secret. There must be rules that prevent the use of religion in politics, and to prevent an