Massad Boulos, senior U.S. adviser for Arab and African affairs, at the State Department in Washington on June 29, 2026 [file photo]. Credit: U.S. Department of State (public domain) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2026_Massad_Boulos_(cropped).jpg.
The United States praised Egypt on Saturday for permanently listing the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist entity, a step that followed a separate Egyptian court order naming 35 Muslim organizations in Europe.
“The United States commends Egypt for permanently designating the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist entity. Freezing assets and cutting off financing deny terrorists the resources they need. We stand with Egypt confronting Muslim Brotherhood violence and destabilization,” Massad Boulos, the State Department’s senior adviser for Arab and African affairs, wrote on X. The post drew more than 11,000 likes within a day and was widely reported by Arabic broadcasters, including Al Arabiya and CNN Arabic.
The decision, issued by the office at the Public Prosecution that keeps Egypt’s lists of terrorist entities, was published in the Official Gazette on November 9, Egyptian Streets reported. It ends earlier temporary listings, the latest issued in 2022, and rests on court judgments that became final after a Court of Cassation ruling in April. Under Egypt’s 2015 law, a listing bans the group’s activities, closes its offices and freezes its assets, and the same decision named three individuals.
A day later, a Cairo criminal court in Badr listed 35 organizations and 36 people for five years, the newspaper Youm7 reported. They include the Council of European Muslims, Muslims of France, the Muslim Association of Britain, the Swiss Muslim League and the German Islamic Community, as well as the British activist Anas Altikriti. A journalist for the Daily Mail noted that the British association, which helps organize marches for Palestine in London, remains free to operate in the United Kingdom.
Mereja Media found no response from the Muslim Brotherhood or the European groups to the U.S. statement by Saturday evening. Egypt first banned the Brotherhood after the army removed President Mohamed Morsi in 2013, and in January the U.S. Treasury designated the group’s Egyptian and Jordanian branches, Egyptian Streets reported. Egypt has also been drawn into the Red Sea crisis, with Cairo saying its troops in Saudi Arabia would not enter Yemen.
Sources
- Massad Boulos (@US_SrAdvisorAF) on X, Nov 14
- Egyptian Streets, Egypt permanently lists Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist entity, Official Gazette says, Nov 9
- Youm7, 35 entities and 36 people added to terrorism lists (Arabic), Nov 10
- CNN Arabic, Boulos post on Egypt and the Muslim Brotherhood (Arabic), Nov 14
- Al Arabiya Egypt on X (Arabic), Nov 14
- FWolfisz on X, Daily Mail report, Nov 14
- Mereja Media, Egypt says its troops in Saudi Arabia will not enter Yemen