Rabat- Saudi Arabia has officially declared the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization. According to the new Saudi “law”, any person who supports the Muslim Brotherhood could face up to 30 years in Jail.
The New York Times wondered in a news story if this decision is to extend to all the Islamist leaders, including Abdelilah Benkirane, the head of the Moroccan government and Secretary General of the Party of Justice and Development (PJD).
Recently, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain decided to withdraw their Ambassadors from Qatar, because of Doha’s alleged support for the Muslim Brotherhood and Al Jazeera channel’s coverage of Egypt, since former President Mohammed Morsi was toppled in July 2013.
But it is still unclear whether the KSA meant for the terrorist label to cover every affiliate or ally of the Brotherhood in the region, according to the New York Times.
That would concern many Islamist leaders who support the Muslim Brotherhood in the region, including Morocco’s Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane.
According to the same source, some analysts asked if the “Saudis would jail Islamist public officials from those countries if they visited, say, on a pilgrimage to Mecca.”
The Justice and Development Party in particular has close ties with Islamist groups in the region. In a clear move of support to the Brotherhood, PJD’s leaders hosted Mohamed Abouabor and Assim Shelbi, two Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood officials, a few weeks ago in Morocco.
During the opening of the Forum of the Youth of the the PJD last August in Casablanca, Abdelilah Benkirane appeared in a photo waving the finger sign of Rabia El Adaouia.
The photo caused a stir in Morocco and pushed the leaders of the opposition parties to question whether Benkirane was acting as the head of the Moroccan government or the head of his party.
Edited by Jessica Rohan
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