Muslim

Jan. 15 (UPI) — Argentina’s government designated branches of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan as terrorist organizations, the office of President Javier Milei said.

The designation is based on official reports documenting transnational illicit activities, including acts of terrorism, public calls for violent extremism, links to other terrorist organizations and their potential impact on Argentina, according to the statement.

The decision Wednesday came one day after U.S. President Donald Trump‘s administration took the same step.

According to Washington, while the movement claims to have abandoned violence, its affiliates in Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon continue to promote and support terrorist activities, including backing groups such as Hamas.

U.S. officials said those structures have inspired, financed and facilitated actions by organizations considered a direct threat to the security of the United States and its allies, and that the designations aim to curb their operational and financial capacity.

Argentina’s official statement said the decision was adopted through coordination among the ministries of Foreign Affairs and National Security and Justice, as well as the Intelligence Secretariat, within the framework of Argentina’s international commitments to combat terrorism and its financing.

“With this measure, mechanisms for the prevention, early detection and punishment of terrorism and those who finance it are strengthened, so that members of the Muslim Brotherhood and their allies cannot operate freely,” the government said.

Milei’s administration added these Islamist groups to the Public Registry of Persons and Entities Linked to Acts of Terrorism and Its Financing, known by its Spanish acronym RePET.

RePET is an official registry that allows authorities to identify and apply legal and financial restrictions on individuals and entities linked to terrorist activities, including asset freezes and limits on operating within the financial system.

In its statement, Argentina’s presidency underscored Milei’s “unwavering commitment” to “recognizing terrorists for what they are,” and recalled that his government had already designated Hamas and Cartel de los Soles as terrorist organizations.

The Muslim Brotherhood has also been designated a terrorist organization by countries such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia, while Jordan banned the group in April last year.

WASHINGTON — President Trump’s administration has made good on its pledge to label three Middle Eastern branches of the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organizations, imposing sanctions on them and their members in a decision that could have implications for U.S. relationships with allies in the region.

The Treasury and State departments announced the actions Tuesday against the Lebanese, Jordanian and Egyptian chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood, which they said pose a risk to the United States and American interests.

The State Department designated the Lebanese branch a foreign terrorist organization, the most severe of the labels, which makes it a criminal offense to provide material support to the group. The Jordanian and Egyptian branches were listed by the Treasury Department as specially designated global terrorists for providing support to militant group Hamas.

“These designations reflect the opening actions of an ongoing, sustained effort to thwart Muslim Brotherhood chapters’ violence and destabilization wherever it occurs,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement. “The United States will use all available tools to deprive these Muslim Brotherhood chapters of the resources to engage in or support terrorism.”

Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent were mandated last year under an executive order signed by Trump to determine the most appropriate way to impose sanctions on the groups, which U.S. officials say engage in or support violence and destabilization campaigns that harm the United States and other regions.

Bessent said in a post on X that the Muslim Brotherhood “has a longstanding record of perpetrating acts of terror, and we are working aggressively to cut them off from the financial system.” He added that the Trump administration will “deploy the full scope of its authorities to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat terrorist networks wherever they operate in order to keep Americans safe.”

Muslim Brotherhood leaders have said they renounce violence, and the Muslim Brotherhood branches in Egypt and Lebanon denounced their inclusion.

“The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood categorically rejects this designation and will pursue all legal avenues to challenge this decision which harms millions of Muslims worldwide,” it said in a statement, denying any involvement in or support for terrorism.

The Lebanese branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, known as Al Jamaa al Islamiya (the Islamic Group), said in a statement that it is “a licensed Lebanese political and social entity that operates openly and within the bounds of the law” and that the U.S. decision “has no legal effect within Lebanon.”

In singling out the chapters in Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt, Trump’s executive order noted that a wing of the Lebanese chapter had launched rockets on Israel after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack in Israel that set off the war in Gaza. Leaders of the group in Jordan also have provided support to Hamas, the order said.

The Muslim Brotherhood was founded in Egypt in 1928 but was banned in that country in 2013. Jordan announced a sweeping ban on the Muslim Brotherhood in April.

Egypt on Tuesday welcomed the designation and praised Trump’s efforts to combat global terrorism.

“This is a significant step that reflects the extremist ideology of this group and the direct threat it represents for regional and international security and stability,” the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Nathan Brown, a professor of political science and international affairs at George Washington University, said other allies of the U.S., including the United Arab Emirates, would likely be pleased with the designation.

“For other governments where the brotherhood is tolerated, it would be a thorn in bilateral relations,” including in Qatar and Turkey, he said. While the Turkish ruling party has been associated with members of the Muslim Brotherhood in the past, the government of Qatar has denied any relationship with it.

Brown also said a designation on the chapters may have effects on visa and asylum claims for people entering not just the U.S. but also Western European countries and Canada.

“I think this would give immigration officials a stronger basis for suspicion, and it might make courts less likely to question any kind of official action against Brotherhood members who are seeking to stay in this country, seeking political asylum,” he said.

Trump, a Republican, weighed whether to designate the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization in 2019 during his first term in office. Some prominent Trump supporters, including right-wing influencer Laura Loomer, have pushed his administration to take aggressive action against the group.

Two Republican-led state governments — Florida and Texas — designated the group as a terrorist organization this year.

Hussein and Lee write for the Associated Press. Fatma Khaled in Cairo contributed to this report.

U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent listens as President Donald Trump holds a meeting with his Cabinet in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on December 2. The Treasury and State Department designated branches of the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organizations on Tuesday. File Photo by Yuri Gripas/UPI | License Photo

Jan. 13 (UPI) — The U.S. Treasury and State Departments designated branches of the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organizations on Tuesday.

The press release by the Department of the Treasury alleges that chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and Jordan support terrorism by supporting terrorist groups such as Hamas.

“The Muslim Brotherhood has a longstanding record of perpetrating acts of terror and we are working aggressively to cut them off from the financial system,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement. “This administration will deploy the full scope of its authorities to disrupt, dismantle and defeat terrorist networks wherever they operate in order to keep America safe.”

The move follows President Donald Trump‘s direction, laid out in an executive order signed in November. Trump directed the Treasury and State Department to evaluate whether any chapter of the Muslim Brotherhood should be designated as a foreign terrorist organization.

The Muslim Brotherhood was founded in Egypt in 1928. It renounced the use of violence in the 1970s, though the treasury said its branches promote and support terrorism.

Hamas was founded as a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in the 1980s. It has since become an independent organization.

The Office of Foreign Asset is directed to block all property and property interests related to the sanctioned Muslim Brotherhood branches. This includes property that is at least 50% owned by a person associated with the organization.

The United States has designated Muslim Brotherhood organisations in Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan as “terrorist” groups, the Associated Press news agency reports, as Washington intensifies its crackdown on Israel’s rivals across the world.

The decision on Tuesday came weeks after President Donald Trump issued an executive order directing his administration to start the process of blacklisting the groups.

“These designations reflect the opening actions of an ongoing, sustained effort to thwart Muslim Brotherhood chapters’ violence and destabilisation wherever it occurs,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement, according to AP.

“The United States will use all available tools to deprive these Muslim Brotherhood chapters of the resources to engage in or support terrorism.”

The designations make it illegal to provide material support to the groups. They also largely ban their current and former members from entering the US and impose economic sanctions to choke their revenue streams.

Established in 1928 by Egyptian Muslim scholar Hassan al-Banna, the Muslim Brotherhood has offshoots and branches across the Middle East, including political parties and social organisations.

More to come…

Zohran Mamdani was sworn in as New York City’s mayor just after midnight in a historic ceremony at a decommissioned Manhattan subway station.

Making history as the first Muslim to lead the United States’ largest city, Mamdani took his oath with his hand placed on a Quran.

“This is truly the honour and the privilege of a lifetime,” Mamdani said in a brief speech.

The private ceremony, conducted by New York Attorney General Letitia James at the architecturally stunning old City Hall station – one of the city’s original subway stops known for its arched ceilings – marked the official transition of power.

In his inaugural remarks, Mamdani highlighted the venue as a “testament to the importance of public transit to the vitality, the health and the legacy of our city” while announcing Mike Flynn as his new Department of Transportation commissioner.

The mayor concluded his brief address saying, “Thank you all so much, now I will see you later,” before ascending the stairs with a smile.

A more elaborate public inauguration will take place at 1pm (18:00 GMT) at City Hall. A public celebration will follow on Broadway’s “Canyon of Heroes”, famous for hosting ticker-tape parades.

As he steps into one of the US’s most demanding political positions, Mamdani breaks multiple barriers. At 34, he becomes the city’s youngest mayor in generations and the first of Muslim faith, South Asian descent, and African birth.

Terrorism and the Middle East are continuing to roil the Republican Senate contest after a letter written by former congressman Tom Campbell emerged that appeared to contradict statements Campbell and his aides had made about his dealings with a radical Muslim professor.

The professor, Sami Al-Arian, contributed to Campbell’s unsuccessful campaign in 2000 for the U.S. Senate. On Sept. 26, 2001, when he was teaching at the University of South Florida, Al-Arian gave an interview to Fox TV host Bill O’Reilly in which he conceded that he had said, “Jihad is our path. Victory to Islam. Death to Israel. Revolution. Revolution until victory. Rolling to Jerusalem.”

Those statements quickly generated a furor and the university moved to discipline Al-Arian. Campbell, by then a law professor at Stanford University, wrote a letter to Judy Genshaft, the president of the University of South Florida, protesting any punishment.

Campbell had previously conceded that he wrote a letter on Al-Arian’s behalf, but had said during a candidates’ debate Friday that he did so before Al-Arian’s interview with O’Reilly. His campaign’s website also said the letter was written before the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

The text of the letter showed otherwise. Dated Jan. 21, 2002, it said, “ . . . I respectfully wish to convey my sincere alarm that Professor Al-Arian may be treated harshly because of the substance of his views.”

Campbell went on to write that “I have formed this fear because of the paucity of evidence supporting the purported reasons for this discipline against him. I read a transcript of the ‘O’Reilly Factor’ interview last autumn, and I did not see anything whereby Professor Al-Arian attempted to claim he was representing the views of the University of South Florida.”

Carly Fiorina, one of Campbell’s opponents in the primary race, called on him to release the letter last week. The text of the letter was first disclosed by the website of the Investigative Project on Terrorism. Campbell’s aides, who had said the candidate no longer had a copy of the original letter, then posted a link to it on the campaign website.

On Monday, Campbell said in an interview that despite the language of his letter, he had never read the full transcript of the O’Reilly interview, specifically the “Death to Israel” language. If he had seen it, he said, he never would have written the letter.

“That’s too zealous,” he said. “Unacceptable. Calling for death to a country or individual is unacceptable.”

Campbell has previously said that Al-Arian never contributed to his 2000 Senate campaign; Campbell later admitted that he had.

In 2006, Al-Arian pleaded guilty to providing aid to a terrorist group.

Campbell spokesman James Fisfis said the candidate’s memory of his dealings with Al-Arian is foggy because he did not have an original copy of the letter and because the events occurred nearly a decade ago.

“It was a long time ago,” Fisfis said. “We’re trying to piece together everything about that time period.”

A spokesman for one of Campbell’s rivals, Assemblyman Chuck DeVore (R-Irvine), said the letter is the latest in a troubling pattern.

“Whether it’s absent-mindedness or deception — the only person who knows that for sure is Tom Campbell — there’s a pattern of inaccuracy whenever Tom Campbell ventures into these subjects,” Joshua Trevino said.

“We have to double-check everything he says about his past associations with these radicals because we can’t trust him to give us the whole truth.”

The disclosures came as Campbell and Fiorina filed the paperwork Monday to make their candidacies official. DeVore planned to file his paperwork Wednesday. The winner of the primary will face three-term Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.).

seema.mehta@latimes.com