Saudi media is reporting that the Muslim Brotherhood in Kuwait has demanded that the government stop handing over its detained members to Egypt. According to an Asharq Al-Awsat report:
The Muslim Brotherhood in Kuwait demanded on Friday local authorities to cease handing over its detained members to Egypt. The party urged Kuwait to instead to allow the them to “safely depart Kuwait to any other country”. The statement was issued days after Kuwait handed over to Cairo Khaled al-Mahdi, a member of the youth leadership in the Brotherhood. He has been sentenced to ten years in jail by Egypt for his involvement in violent acts and financing the group. The Muslim Brotherhood is banned by Egypt and designated as a terrorist organization. A security source told Asharq Al-Awsat that Brotherhood fugitives wanted by Egypt and residing in Kuwait are handed over to Cairo based on an agreement signed by the two countries.
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In August, the GMBDW reported that the Kuwaiti Muslim Brotherhood had objected to government plans to extradite Brotherhood figures.
Egypt has formally designated the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization in 2013 and banned it in the country. Senior Brotherhood figures subsequently fled to countries such as Turkey and Qatar, but also to Kuwait. In early June 2017, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Yemen, Egypt, the Maldives, and Bahrain announced that they were cutting diplomatic ties with Qatar over its support for the Brotherhood while Kuwait has been reportedly been playing the role of mediator in the conflict. Other relevant GMBDW coverage has included:
- In July 2014, the GMBDW reported that Kuwait was planning to close three branches of the Islah Charitable Society, also known as the Kuwaiti Social Reform Association, a charity associated with the Muslim Brotherhood in that country.
- In the same month, we reported that a Kuwaiti MP had called for the country to outlaw the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization.
- In January 2014 we reported that the Kuwaiti Muslim Brotherhood had sharply criticized the Egyptian government’s decision to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist group.
- In January 2013, we reported that a Kuwaiti MP had alleged there were Muslim Brotherhood “sleeper cells” operating in Kuwait.