The Belgian media appears to have woken up to discover the presence of the Global Muslim Brotherhood in their country. One of the articles appearing recently on the subject identifies the Ligue des Musulmans de Belgique (LMB) as part of the Muslim Brotherhood in Belgium. According to the report in the Belgian magazine LeVif:
Based in Saint-Gilles, the LMB is the organizer of the Foire Musulmane de Bruxelles (Brussels Muslim Fair). It is also the umbrella for Belgian associations claiming to represent “contemporary Muslim reform.” Many also see the informal structure of the Muslim Brotherhood “historic wing” that is to say being in the line of the brotherhood founded in Egypt in 1928 by Hassan al-Banna. The LMB on its website boasts five member associations in Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent, Liege and Verviers. It is also part of the Federation of Islamic Organisations in Europe (FIOE), with offices in Saint-Josse and umbrella Muslim organizations in almost 28 European countries. LMB is subject, according to its statutes, to arbitration by FIOE. In case of dissolution, its property reverts back to a foundation based in Leicestershire (UK), The European Trust-The Charity, or a member association. The European Trust is the financial arm of FIOE.
A 2008 report authored by the GMBDW editor had almost eight years ago identified the LMB as part of the Muslim Brotherhood in Belgium as well as its ties to FIOE which was the subject of another 2008 report on the organization. In July of 2015 the Times of London published a major investigation into the Europe Trust conducted with the assistance of the GMBDW editor. (None of the recent Belgian media articles on the Belgian Muslim Brotherhood has credited or cited this work.) We also reported on the 2015 Brussels Muslim Fair and that numerous Muslim Brotherhood figures were scheduled to speak.
Even more interestingly, the LeVif report goes on to reveal that the LMB filed its annual accounts for the first time on 23 September 2015 at the Registry of the French Commercial Court of Brussels and that the organization received the majority of its income from two large donations- 1,081,940 euros from the Qatar Charity and 159,327 euros from the Kuwait Charity. The GMBDW is aware of no other instance where a Global Muslim Brotherhood organization has publicly reviewed the source of its financing.
The GMBDW reported in January 2015 on several workshops in Gaza and the West Bank initiated by the Qatar Charity in preparation for an international humanitarian summit planned in Istanbul during 2016. As noted in that post, Qatar Charity is part of the UK-based Humanitarian Forum whose Muslim member organizations are all part of the Global Muslim Brotherhood and/or close to Iran. In September 2014, we reported on the launch of a 1 billion campaign ostensibly for the rebuilding of the Gaza strip initiated by a new organization headed by a well known UK Hamas/Muslim Brotherhood figure. The launch event was held in Istanbul and sponsored by Qatar Charity. In addition, Qatar Charity has been known to have been part of the Union of Good, the coalition of charities raising money for Hamas, as well as being a member of the Cairo-based International Islamic Council for Da’wa and Relief, (IICDR) is an umbrella group for 86 Islamic organizations, many of which are associated with the global Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas fundraising, or support for Al Qaeda. We also reported in June 2015 that Qatar Charity (QC) has announced the establishment of the first Islamic center in Luxembourg.