Muslim Brotherhood chief threatens France

Having disliked Emmanuel Macron's recently presented action plan on tackling Islamic separatism, the supreme leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Ibrahim Mounir, issued a statement. He stressed that several aspects of the French president's speech were inaccurate and disrespectful of the feelings of more than two billion Muslims. Mounir was of the opinion that President Macron's address went against some historical and scientific facts. and that his words would only serve the policies and negative prejudices of some countries under foreign influence.

In a statement issued by the Muslim Brotherhood, Ibrahim Mounir emphasized the teachings of the movement, pointing out that the laws of Allah take precedence over the laws of men, which he believes are in sharp contradiction to what President Macron said, namely that any comparison between Islam's thoughts and principles with the history of the French Revolution's "inheritors" would be harmful for the inheritors.

Although Ibrahim Mounir places the laws of Islam above the laws of the French Republic and says that believers should always stick to their words, he also underlines that Muslims must always respect the laws of their host countries. Then, while claiming to respect laws, as well as civil obligations and rights, Mounir makes a thinly veiled threat against France. He goes on to assure the French president, the French people and all the peoples of the world that the principles of the Muslim Brotherhood - which emanate from the faith of its followers and supporters - have always been capable of overcoming or defeating certain regimes that make a deliberate effort to force Muslims to abandon their religion, even if they have to resort to unlawful and inhumane infringements, according to the French weekly Marianne.

The veiled threats come from 83-three-year-old Ibrahim Mounir, who became the acting general leader of the Muslim Brotherhood on 4 September, after 76-year-old Mahmud Ezzat - one of the organisation's leaders - was arrested in Egypt at the end of August. Ibrahim Mounir was defendants in the court case against Sajid Kutb and others. Ibrahim Mounir, a defendant in the trial against Sajid Kutb and his accomplices, was given a death penalty which was later reduced to life imprisonment. Eventually, he was released under the amnesty law introduced by President Sadat in 1975. He first went to Kuwait and then moved to London, where he became the spokesman and secretary general of the European Brotherhood.

Reacting to Emmanuel Macron's speech, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan strongly criticised France's draft bill on Islamic separatism. The Turkish president said Macron had surpassed all boundaries, adding that the French president's comment that "Islam is in crisis" - uttered in a city that boasts a large Muslim population - was tantamount to an open provocation. Erdogan said the fact that the French president is planning to organise and restructure Islam in France shows nothing but disrespect and impertinence. He would like to see the French president in the role of a responsible statesman rather than in the role of a colonising governor, he added.