Washington: Foreign Affairs Committee passes legislation to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization.

Arab Sea Newspaper - Special:

The House Foreign Affairs Committee passed a bill on Wednesday aimed at expanding the designation of the "Muslim Brotherhood" as a terrorist organization. Bill H.R. 4397 stipulates classifying the group as a "foreign terrorist organization," based on a comprehensive definition that includes any entity that is a branch, association, or organization owned or directly or indirectly controlled by or affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood. Under the current wording, the proposed designation extends to dozens of countries, including Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Turkey, Sudan, Tunisia, Morocco, Lebanon, and Yemen, while allowing the Secretary of State to expand the scope of areas at their discretion. The bill is led by Representatives Mario Diaz-Balart and Jared Moskowitz, and goes further than the executive order issued by former President Donald Trump last November, which was limited to specific branches of the group in Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt. However, the committee's discussions revealed divisions even among supporters of the bill, amid legal and political reservations about the feasibility of dealing with the Muslim Brotherhood as a unified central entity. The committee recommended referring the bill to the House floor after completing the regulatory procedures, while a date has not yet been set for discussing a similar bill in the Senate led by Republican Senator Ted Cruz.