The Saudi Press Agency has reported that the Secretary General of the Muslim World League (MWL) has met with Ahmed Al-Rawi, a leader in the U.K and European Muslim Brotherhood. According to the report:
Holy City of Makkah, Muharram 12, 1433 The Secretary General of Muslim World League (MWL) Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulmohsen Al-Turki received here today Ahmed Al-Rawi, the Director General of European Endowment and the Chairman of Muslim Association of Britain. During the meeting, they discussed means of enhancing cooperation between the MWL and the European Endowment in a way that serves Islam and Muslims.
The reference to the “European Endowment” refers most likely to the Europe Trust which although sometimes claiming to be an independent charity, is in fact a central part of the Federation of Islamic Organizations in Europe (FIOE) and that purports to be a “Waqf”, a religious endowment consisting of revenue earning properties. According to a report by the NEFA Foundation, the Trust has amassed a real-estate portfolio consisting of properties throughout Europe valued in 2006 at 5.7 million British pounds (approximately $10.4 million). The NEFA report notes that the Trust’s known funding sources are all Gulf-based and the Trust had engaged in some questionable, non-transparent real-estate transactions. To date, only a relatively small amount of the Trust’s income has gone to funding actual programs with the bulk of the expenditure devoted to purchasing additional property. When actual programs were supported, they were almost all connected to FIOE member organizations. Other notable trustees include German Muslim Brotherhood leader Ibrahim El-Zayat and Turkish Muslim Brotherhood leader Gazi Misirli.
The Muslim Association of Britain (MAB) had for many years been the most active organization in the U.K Muslim Brotherhood. Many of the leaders of the MAB left in 2007 to form a new organization known as the British Muslim Initiative (BMI). According to an Israeli think-tank report, the breakup appeared to be the result of a conflict between traditionalists in the MAB who were unhappy with the high level of involvement in U.K left-wing politics while those who who formed the BMI wished such activity to continue. Prior to the split, the MAB often joined in coalitions with far-left U.K groups such as the Stop the War Coalition and the Respect Party. The MAB is still part of the European Muslim Brotherhood umbrella group known as the Federation of Islamic Organizations in Europe (FIOE) as well as the U.K. umbrella group the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), also dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood. After a period in which the MAB appeared to be moribund and only active in Scotland, the web site was reactivated in February 2008 and announced one month later that Ahmed Al-Rawi had been chosen as the new MAB President. Al-Rawi himself had been the long-time president of FIOE and was replaced sometime following the assassination of his brother in Iraq. Mr. Al-Rawi has in the past defended terrorism in Israel and Iraq.
The Muslim World League was established in 1962 as a means for the propagation of Saudi “Wahabbi” Islam. Muslim Brothers played an important role in its founding and, to date, the League has been strongly associated with the Brotherhood.