Brotherhood denies mediation for Egypt reconciliation

By Hussein Qabani

CAIRO

Egypt’s embattled Muslim Brotherhood group has denied mediation by regional states to reach reconciliation with the regime of President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi.

Local media said efforts were underway by some regional countries to heal the rift between the Brotherhood and the Egyptian regime.

“We deny reports that the Brotherhood had agreed to engage in reconciliation with the coup regime in Egypt under regional sponsorship,” the Brotherhood said in a statement on Tuesday.

It stressed that the movement had never asked from any party to mediate between the Brotherhood and the military-backed regime.

Last week, the Muslim Brotherhood rejected any reconciliation with Sisi, a former army chief who led the military to depose Mohamed Morsi, Egypt’s first freely elected president and a Brotherhood leader, in a 2013 coup.

Egypt’s oldest Islamist group, the Muslim Brotherhood has been the subject of a harsh crackdown by the Egyptian regime since Morsi’s overthrow.

The Egyptian authorities accuse the Brotherhood of condoning violence and have designated the group a "terrorist" organization.

Since Morsi’s departure, thousands of Brotherhood members have been thrown behind bars and hundreds have been slapped with death sentences.