Trump intends to designate Muslim Brotherhood as a foreign terrorist organization
US President Donald Trump has said he intends to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a foreign terrorist organization.
Trump said he would do so “in the strongest terms,” stressing that final documents are currently being prepared to classify the group as a terrorist.
There are a growing concerns within the Trump administration about the growing activities of the Muslim Brotherhood, as Trump has been considering this move since his first administration.
Republicans in the House of Representatives and the Senate and some Democrats are pressuring the State Department to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a foreign terrorist organization, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced last August that the group’s designation as a foreign terrorist organization is a restriction, but the process is long and deliberate, given that the group has many branches and affiliated groups that must be examined individually.
In July, Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and others from the Republican Party in the Senate introduced a bill calling for the Muslim Brotherhood to be designated a foreign terrorist organization.
“The Muslim Brotherhood is a terrorist organization, they are committed to the overthrow and destruction of America and other non-Muslim governments around the world, and they pose a serious threat to US national security interests,” Cruz said, noting that “America’s allies in the Middle East and Europe have designated the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization, and the United States should follow their example and do so urgently”.
On Tuesday, Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott designated the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) as foreign terrorist organizations and transnational criminal organizations.
The designation allows for tougher measures against the two organizations and their affiliates and prevents them from buying or acquiring land in Texas, according to Abbott’s office.
There are calls by many lawmakers in Congress to do the same at the federal level.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is the largest organization representing Muslims in North America.
