Algerian party slams Saudi over Muslim Brotherhood

By Aburrazzak Abdullah

ALGIERS, Algeria (AA) - The Movement of Society for Peace, Algeria’s largest Islamic party, said on Thursday that the statement by Saudi Arabia's highest religious body about the Muslim Brotherhood has spread discord among Muslims.

"The statement of the Saudi Council of Senior Scholars about the Muslim Brotherhood is political and has nothing to do with Sharia [Islamic law] as it spreads discord among Muslims,” the party said in a statement.

It added that the position of the Saudi scholars "is inconsistent with the reality".

The Saudi council in a statement had called the Muslim Brotherhood a violent terrorist group which does not represent Islam.

On Tuesday, Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood said it has always been a victim of violence and dictatorial regimes.

The group was blacklisted by Egyptian authorities in 2013 following the ouster of Mohamed Morsi, Egypt’s first freely elected president, in a military coup. He died during trial in 2019.

This May, Saudi Arabia officially blacklisted the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization.

*Bassel Barakat contributed to this report from Ankara