DHAKA: Egypt should not ban the Muslim Brotherhood or exclude it from the political process after the army’s overthrow of Mohamed Mursi, the interim prime minister said, in a softening of state rhetoric against the group.

The apparent about-turn adds to speculation that the government is beginning to prepare for a possible political settlement to the country’s crisis.

Hazem el-Beblawi proposed on August 17 that the Arab world’s oldest and arguably best organised Islamist group should be dissolved, and said the government was studying the idea.

He made the proposal to the minister of social affairs, who is responsible for licensing non-governmental organisations.

In an interview with state media late on Tuesday, Beblawi appeared to row back, saying the government would instead monitor the group and its political wing and that the actions of its members would determine its fate.

‘Dissolving the party or the group is not the solution and it is wrong to make decisions in turbulent situations,’ the state news agency MENA quoted Beblawi as saying, reports Al Jazeera.

‘It is better for us to monitor parties and groups in the framework of political action without dissolving them or having them act in secret.’

BDST: 2024 HRS, AUG 28, 2013
RoR/RIS