‘Brotherhood can return to politics’: Amr Moussa

A prominent Egyptian political figure says the country’s authorities should leave the door open for the Muslim Brotherhood to return to the political scene.

“As long as they are following the rules, playing by the same rules as we are all playing, why should you exclude them?” Amr Moussa, a former Egyptian foreign minister and presidential candidate, said in an interview with Reuters on Tuesday.

Egypt’s military-backed government has launched a heavy-handed crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood and its supporters after the army deposed the country’s first democratically-elected president, Mohamed Morsi, in July last year.

Thousands of the Muslim Brotherhood members as well as the group’s supporters have been arrested and accused of inciting unrest in country.

Moussa further stated the Brotherhood members have the “chance to run for elections, if they wish, to establish a party within the confines of the constitution,” adding, “The road is open for them.”

In December 2013, the Egyptian government officially designated the Muslim Brotherhood as a “terrorist” group, accusing it of being behind a deadly bombing in the city of Mansoura. The Brotherhood has condemned the bomb attack, denying any links to the incident.

Cairo has also called on the Arab countries to list the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization.

On March 8, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) followed the example of neighboring Saudi Arabia and blacklisted the 86-year-old Brotherhood along with several other groups.

Human Rights Watch has denounced Egypt’s interim government for labeling the Brotherhood as a terrorist group, saying the move “appears to be aimed at expanding the crackdown on peaceful Brotherhood activities and imposing harsh sanctions on its supporters.”