Muslim Brotherhood's History
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Since its birth in Egypt in 1928, the Muslim Brotherhood has spread to dozens of countries -- promoting a return to so-called "pure" Islamic principles that stands at odds with some of the major trends of the 20th century: international commerce and organizations, Western liberalism and greater rights for women.
The group's teachings -- flavored with strict Saudi-style Wahhabist beliefs and vehement anti-Americanism -- have become part of nearly every hard-line Islamic movement since.
In 1948, a Brotherhood member assassinated Egypt's prime minister, Mahmud el-Nokrashy. The group was banned and Brotherhood founder Hassan al-Banna was killed in 1949.
A failed attempt to slay nationalist President Gamal Abdel Nasser in 1954 led to mass arrests and thousands of Brotherhood supporters fled across the Middle East, where the organization expanded its political clout either in secret or openly. Its Palestinian branch became the anti-Israel group Hamas.
Sayyid Qutb, a passionately anti-Western Brotherhood member who was hanged in 1966, became an important point of reference for al-Qaida's inner circle.
In the 1970s, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat released hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood members and allowed them to widen their influence. It was a gambit to help fight Sadat's political opponents and boost his Islamic credentials.
It backfired.
The Brotherhood spun off two violent cells: al-Gamaa al-Islamiyya, or the Islamic Group, and Islamic Jihad of Egypt -- whose attacks include Sadat's 1981 assassination. The group merged with Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida organization in 1998. A former Brotherhood follower in Egypt, Ayman al-Zawahri, became al-Qaida's No. 2.
Al-Gamaa al-Islamiyya renounced violence in 1997 after carrying out dozens of attacks. Its members include the blind Muslim cleric Al-Omar Abdel-Rahman, who is serving a life sentence in the United States for conspiring to blow up New York City landmarks, including the United Nations, in the 1990s. He has also been linked to the bombing of New York's World Trade Center in 1993.
Over the years, other countries such as Syria and Jordan have battled the Muslim Brotherhood.
The Brotherhood claims it no longer advocates political violence, but backs Palestinian attacks against Israeli targets and efforts to end the U.S.-led occupation in Iraq. The Brotherhood, however, did not oppose January's Iraq elections.
KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai urged the United States on Saturday to prosecute and punish anyone found guilt of desecrating the Koran as anti-U.S. protests flared for a fifth day.
Sixteen Afghans have been killed and more than 100 hurt since Wednesday in the worst anti-U.S. protests across Afghanistan since U.S. forces invaded in 2001 to oust the Taliban for harbouring Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda network.
Newsweek magazine said in its May 9 edition investigators probing abuses at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay found that interrogators "had placed Korans on toilets, and in at least one case flushed a holy book down the toilet."
Muslims consider the Koran the literal word of God and treat each book with deep reverence.
"If proven that this happened, then we will strongly ask the American government to put on trial and punish whoever is the culprit," Karzai told a news conference. Such sacrilege was unacceptable to every Muslim.
The United States has tried to calm global Muslim outrage over the incident, saying disrespect for the Koran was abhorrent and would not be tolerated, and military authorities were investigating the allegation.
International Muslim groups in Saudi Arabia also called on the United States to investigate and punish those responsible.
The 57-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference said the report had enraged hundreds of millions of Muslims and would "provide fanatics and extremists with excuses to ... justify their acts of violence and terrorism."