BY ANGELA DANIEL
During the recent last seating of Parliament for this year, Prime Minister, David Cameron revealed he would not ban the Islamic Brotherhood, after a long-expected review on the group for for two years. Criticised for sitting on the report amidst pressure by governments of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt to proscribe the Brotherhood as terrorists. David Cameron conceded that the group should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism, but he ruled out banning it in the UK. The three countries as well as Russia and Syria have banned the group.
David Cameron is aware that the operations of the group is opaque, habitually secretive and that they see liberal Muslims and Western societies as decadent and immoral. The Brotherhood is also primarily political, its ideology runs contrary to British values of democracy, rule of law, individual liberty, equality and the mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs. The Prime Minister wants to keep under review whether the group will in the future meet the legal test for proscription as a terror group.
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President Obama of America, a close ally of Britain was also criticised in the US earlier this year for ‘continuing to support the global Islamic militant group’. According to Bill Gertz who wrote in the Washington Post on 03 June 2015 ‘A White House strategy document regards the group as a moderate alternative to more violent Islamic groups like al-Qaeda and Islamic State…..’ The report further stated that ‘the policy backing the Muslim Brotherhood is outlined in secret directive called Presidential Study Directive- 11 or PSD-11.
It is to be remembered that Britain and America have had a long history with Egypt, since 1940s and 1950s, the original home of of the Islamic Brotherhood, where the two countries developed strategic policies to keep their interests safe, through calculated relationships with both the Egyptian governments, and the Islamic Brotherhood who had earlier begun to challenge the investment and commercial domination of Britain in Egypt. Several attempts of Egyptian governments’ crackdown of the Brotherhood did not destroy it. With a sleight of hand, Britain has over the years maintained relationship with the Brotherhood.
In 2013 during the crisis in Egypt, in the face of their own foreign policy, both the US and Britain were torn between supporting the Brotherhood Leader, Mohammed Morsi (who had succeeded Mobarak, an ally of the West) and the protesters, and a reluctance to endorse the military coup against him. Early November this year, the current president of Egypt, Abdul Fattah Sisi visited Britain on David Cameron’s invitation amidst protests by the public and Jeremy Corbyn, Opposition Leader, for having a man who launched the severest crackdown on the Islamist group, in disregard of Human Rights, and although life goes on for Britain with or without the suffering of the Brotherhood in Egypt, the case is different in the UK. The governments must want to protect its position in Middle-East. Britain needs positive relations with Egypt..
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The British government is careful with the Brotherhood in Britain, though their operations are secret and they believe in the caliphate, they are political. They are who they have always been- extremists who do not agree with western lifestyle. They may present as believing in democracy, but the don’t. Banning them would undoubtedly only drive them underground. They must be serving an important purpose. British Intelligence must know the benefit of having them around without molestation in this climate where insurgency is the word. Intelligent must know how to balance things. Jeremy Corbyn would probably prefer not to upset the apple-cart and put the situation to good use, if he were the Prime Minister. Sometimes, you may want to use anything to fight another enemy. The trick may be to divide and rule.
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