BREAKING NEWS: Egyptian Media Reports Rachid Ghannouchi Appointed Number Two In International Organization Of The Muslim Brotherhood

Egyptian media is reporting that Rachid Ghannouchi, leader of the Tunisian Muslim Brotherhood, has been appointed as the second-highest ranking figure in the International Organization of the Muslim Brotherhood. According to an Egyptian Independent report:

Rachid Ghannouchi, leader of Tunisia’s Islamist Ennahda Party, has become the second highest-ranking figure in the international organization of the Muslim Brotherhood, after he was appointed head of its political bureau.

The international Muslim Brotherhood conference held in Istanbul announced the appointment of Ghannouchi as the head of the organization’s political bureau.

Ghannouchi is now second to the group’s secretary general, Ibrahim Mounir Mostafa, according to the Beirut-based al-Mayadeen satellite channel.

The channel also tipped Ghannouchi as a likely successor to Yusuf al-Qaradawi as head of the International Union of Muslim Scholars.

The Brotherhood conference, held in Istanbul following the overthrow of former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy, has agreed to officially term the ouster as a military coup.

The GMBDW reported yesterday that over the weekend, several Arabic reports have emerged on a secret meeting held by members of the Muslim Brotherhood’s International Organisation in Istanbul which has claimed that a document has been put together stating that in two weeks, slanderous media campaigns will be initiated against those who oppose the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), and steps will be taken to create divisions within the Egyptian military. The reports identified eleven names of MB figures who attended this meeting including Rachid Ghannouchi.

Rachid Ghannouchi (many spelling variations) is the head of the Tunisian Ennahda Party, essentially the Muslim Brotherhood in Tunisia. Mr. Ghannouchi has been a member of the European Council for Fatwa and Research (ECFR) and is currently and Assistant Secretary-General of the International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS), both organizations led by Global Muslim Brotherhood Youssef Qaradawi. In 2009, an Egyptian news report referred to Ghannouchi as a leader of the MB “abroad.” Ghannouchi is also one of the founding members of the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY), a Saudi organization closely linked to the Muslim Brotherhood and dedicated to the propagation of “Wahabist” Islam throughout the world. Ghannouchi is known for his thinking on the issue of Islam and citizenship rights. In January 2011, Ghannouchi returned to Tunisia after a long exile in the U.K and two weeks after the Tunisian leader Zine El Abidine Ben was forced from power in the events which triggered the “Arab Spring.” Despite the above characterization of Mr. Ghannouchi as a moderate, he gave a 2011 Arabic-language interview in which he predicts the end of Israel, a viewpoint which is not surprising given that he has had a long history of ties to Palestinian extremism and calls for terrorism.

In June, we reported that the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), a part of the US Muslim Brotherhood.  had announced that together with the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CSID), it was hosting an event featuring Mr. Ghannouchi.

For a review of Mr. Ghannouchi’s history of extremism, go here.

For details on the International Organization of the Muslim Brotherhood, , go here.

For the original SkyNews report on the Istanbul meeting, go here.