Canada is “tremendously concerned” about the Muslim Brotherhood, according to an announcement made shortly after the UK announced a probe into the terror organization.
“Canada has taken an aggressive stand when it comes to listings [of terror groups] … but there is a certain process,” John Baird, Canada’s foreign minister, said at a news conference in Cairo.
“We are tremendously concerned about the Muslim Brotherhood … but the listings are made on the basis of facts and intel.”
Since the 2012 ouster of Mohammed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood has been outlawed and has been designated as a terrorist organization by the army-led government in Egypt.
Since then, the Brotherhood has been linked with a number of terrorist organizations, including Hamas. In light of the revelations, Britain announced earlier this month that it was considering blacklisting the group; the Brotherhood responded to the UK probe by subtly threatening more terrorism in the event of a ban.
Shortly after the threat was made, Canada announced that it was also considering a ban on the Brotherhood. The debate over blacklisting the group could have large-scale political consequences in Canada, due to the high prominence of at least one Brotherhood-associated group.
According to The Global Muslim Brotherhood Daily Watch, a watchdog intelligence site on the terrorist group, the Muslim Association of Canada (MAC) has ties to several prominent Muslim organizations in Canada – and has publicly announced its ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.