Egypt lists 350 figures as terrorists to target terrorist financiers

Cairo – Egyptian authorities decided to list 350 members of Muslim Brotherhood as terrorists this week to resume their campaign against the group that involved in a large number of violent actions since the ousting of former President Mohamed Morsi in 2013.

The decision bans those on the list from travel, puts them on a watch list and grants authorities the right to freeze their assets. The figures enjoy the right to submit an appeal against the decision within 60 days of its publication in the official gazette.

The Egyptian authorities issued similar statements during the latest months to list other figures affiliating Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist groups as terrorists. Many experts believe that these decisions come as a reaction to the terrorist attacks that targeted the countries.

Egyptian expert Rabei Ibrahim said that the decision comes in the framework of the efforts exerted by the Egyptian government to combat terrorism. He stressed that the group involved in a number of terrorist attacks that targeted security forces and military personnel in addition to Coptic churches and citizens.

He stressed that the lists issued recently by the Egyptian authorities included a number of financier of terrorist attacks, such as the Brotherhood business tycoon Hassan Malik.

It is not the first time for the Egyptian authorities to target the financial sources of terrorist, as the Egyptian government took a decision in 2014, as the Egyptian government ordered the freezing of assets of over 1,000 NGOs accused of having links to the Brotherhood and the seizure of the assets of hundreds of Brotherhood members on suspicion of “funding terrorism.

Saudi researcher Salman Al Ansari said that one of the major goals of the Egyptian government is to contain the financial sources of Muslim Brotherhood, saying that the matter is not limited to the internal level, while it extends to the international arena. He pointed out to the Egyptian cooperation with the other Arab countries, including Saudi, Emirates and Bahrain, to boycott Qatar which provides increasing support for terrorist groups, including Muslim Brotherhood.