Iraq does not consider the Muslim Brotherhood a “terrorist organisation”, prime minister’s spokesperson Ahmed Mulla Talal said on Sunday.
In an interview with Al-Arabiya Al-Hadath TV a day after leaked documents revealed that Baghdad had refused to designate the group a terrorist organisation, Talal said four of the country’s parliament speakers hailed from the group, adding that the Muslim Brotherhood is part of the political process in Iraq and helped draw up the country’s constitution.
“The inclusion of any group on the list of terrorism in Iraq comes after it undertakes terrorist acts against citizens or takes up arms against the state,” Talal said.
Earlier on Sunday, the National News Centre reported that the Iraqi National Security Council had refuses to vote on designating the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organisation following a request from Egypt.
Cairo made no comment on the report.
The Muslim Brotherhood is banned in Egypt and the UAE. The Emirates backed then Egyptian Defence Minister turned President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi’s military coup against the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013.
READ: Egypt begins voting to elect new parliament