A just-published analysis by Washington Institute fellow Eric Trager argues that Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood has “doubled down” on efforts to secure power and that the Brotherhood-linked Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) is likely to prevail in the country’s upcoming but still unscheduled parliamentary election. He outlines an array of Brotherhood tactics...

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Reflecting on his recent interview with Jordanian King Abdullah II, The Atlantic national correspondent Jeffrey Goldberg described the monarch as “decidedly unimpressed” with Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi. The King spoke candidly with Goldberg on a range of issues, but expressed particular frustration that Morsi fixates on Israel – rather than on Palestinian...

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Egypt’s ruling Muslim Brotherhood movement has denounced a UN report aimed to end violence against women and girls worldwide, calling the report “deceptive” and aimed at undermining Islamic mores. “The Muslim Brotherhood calls on leaders of Islamic countries, their foreign ministers and representatives in the United Nations to reject and...

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King Abdullah II of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan has reappointed incumbent prime minister Abdullah Ensour and asked him to form a new government, the sixth time since the Arab Spring began two years ago that Abdullah has appointed or reappointed a prime minister.  Ensour – who has also played technocratic roles in...

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Another video of Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood officials calling for the eradication of Israel has been unearthed. This one shows Saad El-Katatni, now chairman of the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), calling for “the destruction of Israel” and declaring that “the peoples are ready [for] jihad.” The footage was taken at...

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Reports that Hamas is somewhere between frustrated and angry with Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood-linked government – which trickled out of Arabic-language media and were picked up by English-language Western and MidEast outlets – are gaining traction: Hamas condemned Egypt’s decision to flood smuggling tunnels linking Sinai and Gaza, according to a...

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The two-year anniversary of the Egyptian Arab Spring, which ousted then-ruler Hosni Mubarak, was marked this week by clashes between protestors and riot police outside the presidential palace in Cairo. Elections held after Mubarak’s ouster saw the election of Mohamed Morsi, a Muslim Brotherhood-linked candidate who subsequently triggered a crisis in...

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Egypt’s interior minister has upped security for leaders of the political opposition in the country after religious hardliners issued fatwas calling for their murder. A video clip from the religious al-Hafez channel shows Muslim cleric Mahmoud Shabaan calling for former IAEA head Mohamed El Baradei and former presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabbahi to...

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Turkish diplomat Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the head of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, yesterday called on member states of the organization to adopt “clear strategy on defending Al-Quds,” the Arabic name for the Israeli capital of Jerusalem, from Israel. Ihsanoglu’s comments came during a meeting of OIC foreign ministers, conducted in preparation...

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Deepening Egyptian political instability – driven partly by increasingly graphic reports of violent crackdowns conducted by security forces on behalf of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood-linked government – may soon be exacerbated by economic turmoil. The government has been unable to implement austerity measures demanded by the IMF in exchange for a critical...

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