The UK-based Cordoba Foundation has announced a national conference scheduled for 12 February 2015 and titled “Islam And Democracy: Exploring the Strategies of Political Islam and the Muslim Brotherhood’s Contribution.” According to the announcement, the speakers include a representative of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood’s political party:
On the back of a trending upsurge in interest and critique of political Islam following the Arab Spring, and particularly the Muslim Brotherhood, this timely conference seeks to unpick the nature and manifestation of political Islam in Britain today. The conference will principally explore whether the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood is congruent with the values and principles of democracy; the orientation of the Brotherhood towards violence, extremism and radicalisation in Britain and abroad; the repressive measures targeting the group globally, and the increasing pressure placed on the political space by more extremist actors such as al-Qa’ida and ISIS.
Speaker of interest as the conference include:
- John Esposito – well known Georgetown University professor tied to the Global Muslim Brotherhood
- Maha Azzam – (Egyptians Abroad for Democracy
- Anas Altikriti – (The Cordoba Foundation, see below)
- Abdelwahab El-Affendi – (Westminster University, tied to Global Muslim Brotherhood)
- Mohammad Soudan – (Freedom and Justice Party, the political party of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.
The Cordoba Foundation is headed by Anas Al-Tikriti, the son of Osama Al-Tikriti, one of the long-serving leaders of the Iraqi Islamic Party which is essentially the Muslim Brotherhood in Iraq. Anas Al-Tikriti is also one of the leaders of the British Muslim Initiative (BMI), a part of the U.K. Muslim Brotherhood and was formerly a leader of the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB), another part of the UK Brotherhood. The GMBDW judges that this conference reflects an increasingly openness by Anas Al-Tirikriti to being publicly associated with the Muslim Brotherhood and as yet another attempt to position the Brotherhood as an Islamist alternative to groups such as the Islamic State.