Various sources are reporting on new leadership of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, living in exile. According to a MEMRI translated report:
The Shura Council of the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria met in Istanbul to elect Riyadh Al-Shaqfa as the organization’s general guide, and Sheikh Hatem Al-Tabsha as council chairman. Belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood is banned in Syria. Also elected were the guide’s deputies. Al-Shaqfa and one of his deputies belonged to the organization’s military arm, and it is not clear whether this will affect the Syrian regime’s ceasefire, declared in 2009, with the organization.
Source: Sooryoon.net, August 2, 2010
In 1982 Hafez Assad, the father of the current Syrian President, launched massive military action against an uprising by the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood in the city of Hama. As a result of this action, large parts of the city were destroyed resulting in an estimated 20,000 deaths. Numerous Syrian Muslim Brothers fled the country and joined the global jihadist network and, until recently, there was no public evidence that the the remaining elements of Syrian Brotherhood leadership in exile were interacting with the global Muslim Brotherhood. This may also be changing in the wake of the Gaza crisis however. A recent post discussed a U.K. Gaza “victory celebration” that featured a list of participants that included Ali Sadruddin Bayanouni, the previous head of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood in exile living in London, together with global Brotherhood leaders such as Kemal Al-Helbawy and Rachid Ghannouchi.
Another post from 2007 reported on reported moves by the U.S. Government to reach closer relations with the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood.
For a comprehensive account of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, go here.
For a comprehensive account of Islamist activities in Syria, go here.