CAIRO (AFP) ― An Egyptian court on Monday banned the Muslim Brotherhood from operating and ordered its assets seized, in the latest blow to the Islamist movement of deposed President Mohamed Morsi.
The court also banned “any institution branching out from or belonging to the Brotherhood,” the official MENA news agency reported, possibly restricting the movement’s political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party.
The ruling ratchets up an intensifying crackdown on the Brotherhood since the army’s July 3 overthrow of Morsi.
Last month, security forces stormed two Cairo protest camps, sparking clashes in which hundreds of Islamist demonstrators were killed.
The operation drew criticism of the military-installed interim authorities from foreign governments and human rights groups.
The United States said Monday it was seeking further details on the Egyptian court’s ruling.
Washington has long argued Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood should be part of the political process.
A judicial source told AFP the court ruled that a government committee should be created to manage the Brotherhood’s seized assets.
The Cairo court “ruled to ban all activities by the Muslim Brotherhood organization, the group emanating from it and its non-governmental organization,” MENA reported.
koreaherald@heraldcorp.com
