An Egyptian Muslin Brotherhood official has called he idea of an international network Muslim Brotherhood network “ridiculous.” According to a report on the Egyptian Brotherhood website, Dr. Mohamed Saad Elewa stated:
In any normal circumstances, once accusing someone of something, there should be evidence available, followed by appeals against these charges and the denying of it. However, the charges we were accused of in this case only included evidences of denials to the speech which was totally unrealistic. It is also assumed also that any Prosecution or Investigation body should not give permission to its officers except after examining the truth of what they say and should not act according to speech only. I do not exempt the Prosecution from playing a role in this as I wonder how it gave an arrest warrant to the investigating officer based on investigations it believes that it is not based on any evidence. I do not exonerate the prosecution of having a role in this, how to allow it to give permission set officer of a memorandum of investigation is that they are not based upon any evidence. The charge of the “international network” claims that we are in contact with the institutions and organizations of the Muslim Brotherhood around the world and this is a ridiculous charge, especially since the regime itself has banned me from travelling since 1990 and I cannot leave Egypt and the only two times I went abroad were to perform Hajj and Umrah where I received permission by the State Security after long persuasion. Here a question rises, how could I be responsible for following up the Muslim Brotherhood abroad as provided in the investigations report when I was banned from travelling? The case is wholly fabricated and faked from the outset. It is strange and ridiculous thing in the case is that the memo provided that we are responsible for the Brotherhood and its institutions in the whole world except Australia! This makes me wonder why we wouldn’t follow up the MB work in Australia. Would the regime allow me to travel there to work? Even if it was for the MB institution there as they claim?
The report goes on to identify Dr. Elewa as one of the defendants in the 1995 military tribunal case which tried Egyptian Brotherhood leaders on various charge
The Egyptian Brotherhood has long denied the existence of any kind of international network. However, in June 2008 the first Deputy chairman of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood was asked about the “international Muslim Brotherhood and replied:
There are entities that exist in many countries all over the world. These entities have the same ideology, principle and objectives but they work in different circumstances and different contexts. So, it is reasonable to have decentralization in action so that every entity works according to its circumstances and according to the problems it is facing and in their framework.
Mohammed Mahdi Akef, the current leader of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, has said in a 2005 interview that the Muslim Brotherhood was present in “70 countries.
It should be noted that the leadership of the global Muslim Brotherhood today is not well understood but that Sheikh Youssef Qaradawi in Qatar is perhaps the most significant leader of this network. The Egyptian “mother organization” is probably best viewed as only one of multiple power centers of the global Brotherhood. The global Muslim Brotherhood should be distinguished from the so-called “International Organization” of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. A previous post has discussed what is known about the International Organization.