US REDRAWS LINES ON MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD

Terrorist designation could reshape global action against transnational Islamist networks

- BY SHAMSA AL QUBAISI | Special to Gulf News

Political circles in the US and the Middle East are closely watching for a decision to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organisation, marking a significant shift in Washington's approach toward Islamist movements with transnational reach.

For decades, the group operated with relative freedom, raising funds and advancing its agendas by penetrating corridors of US politics and financing its activities across the Middle East, including in Sudan, where Brotherhood-affiliated networks have become one of the drivers of war, destruction, and grave crimes.

The group now finds itself facing an international shift that is steadily narrowing its room for manoeuvre. This comes at a time when it seeks to reclaim the influence it once enjoyed before being rejected across much of the Arab world, despite finding backing in some Middle Eastern and European countries. A formal designation would fundamentally alter this situation, reshaping US policy toward the group and directly affecting efforts to confront the Muslim Brotherhood, its networks, and its political and financial influence both within the US and globally.

Such a decision reflects a new reading in Washington of the Muslim Brotherhood’s role in the Middle East and beyond. Across the region, the group has been closely associated with political and security instability, exploiting public space and crises to infiltrate state institutions and advance its objectives. As the impact of a potential US move became apparent, divergent and sometimes contradictory positions emerged among the Muslim Brotherhood’s offshoots, in apparent attempts to circumvent the expected legal and financial consequences.