->Monkbot: Task 18 (cosmetic): eval 18 templates: del empty params (4×); hyphenate params (9×);

2020-12-15T18:28:32Z

Task 18 (cosmetic): eval 18 templates: del empty params (4×); hyphenate params (9×);

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{{Orphan|date=April 2017}}

{{Infobox person
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| name = Mohamed Soudan
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| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1956}}<ref name="religion.info">{{cite web|url=http://english.religion.info/2014/02/24/egypt-the-muslim-brotherhood-in-exile-an-interview-with-mohammad-soudan/|title=Egypt: the Muslim Brotherhood in exile – An Interview with Mohammad Soudan|date=24 February 2014}}</ref>
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| party = [[Freedom and Justice Party (Egypt)|Freedom and Justice Party]]
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'''Mohamed Soudan''' (born 1956) is a senior member of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood Organization and its now defunct political wing, the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP). He was foreign relations secretary underneath previous president, [[Mohamed Morsi]], who was ousted in June 2013 after massive opposition demonstrations.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2014/04/muslim-brotherhood-sets-up-shop-london-world-media-servi-201445125013454810.html|title=Muslim Brotherhood sets up shop in London|last=Shackle|first=Samira|website=www.aljazeera.com|access-date=2017-04-28}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-24772806|title=What's become of Egypt's Mohammed Morsi?|date=2016-11-22|work=BBC News|access-date=2017-04-28|language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mohammed-Morsi#ref1180225|title=Mohammed Morsi {{!}} president of Egypt|work=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=2017-04-28|language=en}}</ref> Following the coup, Soudan fled to the U.K., where he has been living ever since.

An Egyptian court has sentenced Soudan, in absentia, to twelve years in prison.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/features/2014/11/6/uk-safe-haven-no-more|title=UK safe haven no more?|last=al-Shamahi|first=Abubakr|work=alaraby|access-date=2017-04-28|language=en}}</ref>

==Early life and education==
Soudan was born in [[Alexandria]], [[Egypt]] in June 1956, and joined the Muslim Brotherhood at age twenty-three following graduation from the [[Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University|Faculty of Engineering]] at [[Alexandria University]].<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=http://english.religion.info/2014/02/24/egypt-the-muslim-brotherhood-in-exile-an-interview-with-mohammad-soudan/|title=Egypt: the Muslim Brotherhood in exile – An Interview with Mohammad Soudan|date=2014-02-24|website=Religioscope|access-date=2017-04-28}}</ref> He held various positions in the Brotherhood as he climbed the ladder through the years, and he played an integral part in forming the Freedom and Justice Party after [[Hosni Mubarak|Hosni Mubarak's]] early 2011 ousting.<ref name="auto"/>

==Egyptian revolution==
Soudan proclaimed he had played an “active part” in the January 2011 [[Egyptian revolution of 2011|Egyptian revolution]]. In an interview he stated:<ref name="auto"/><blockquote>“There is no question that the MB [Muslim Brotherhood] was the organizer of the revolution, because we were the only group with the capability to organize people on a mass scale. The mosques – and specifically Friday prayers – were a focal point for mobilization.”</blockquote>Further in the interview, Soudan asserted, “The Muslim Brotherhood has a coherent plan to change and fix society. We won’t want to force the people to pray. Egypt can only become Islamic in a gradual fashion.”<ref name="auto"/>

==Freedom and Justice Party==
In 2011, the Freedom and Justice Party was founded as the political wing of the Brotherhood following Hosni Mubarak's overthrow. The group subsequently took over leadership of Egypt and its candidate, Mohamed Morsi, was elected president. Like the Brotherhood, its foundation is based on strictly conservative [[Sharia]] – or Islamic – law. The FJP was officially shut down by an Egyptian Court in August 2014, eight months after the government declared the Brotherhood a [[List of designated terrorist groups|terrorist organization]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28722935|title=Egypt court bans Muslim Brotherhood's political wing|date=2014-08-09|work=BBC News|access-date=2017-04-28|language=en-GB}}</ref> ''[[BBC]]'' reported:<ref name=":0" /><blockquote>“It was accused of orchestrating a wave of violence to destabilise the country after the military overthrew President Mohammed Morsi in July 2013 […] Saturday’s ruling by the Cairo Administrative Court came after a report by its advisory panel that noted the FJP’s leaders had been accused, and in some cases convicted, of murder and inciting violence.”</blockquote>

==Muslim Brotherhood’s controversial history==
The Muslim Brotherhood is a [[Sunni Islam]]ist organization created in Egypt in 1928 by [[Hassan al-Banna]]. ''BBC'' stated that:<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-12313405|title=Profile: Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood|date=2013-12-25|work=BBC News|access-date=2017-04-28|language=en-GB}}</ref> <blockquote>“The movement initially aimed simply to spread Islamic morals and good words, but soon became involved in politics, particularly the fight to rid Egypt of British colonial control and cleanse it of all Western influence.</blockquote><blockquote>While the Ikhwan [Brotherhood] say that they support democratic principles, one of the group’s stated aims is to create a state ruled by Islamic law, or Sharia. Its most famous slogan, used worldwide, is: ‘Islam is the solution.’”</blockquote>One of the Brotherhood's most notable and famous theorists, [[Sayyid Qutb]] – labeled by ''[[The Washington Post|The]]'' [[The Washington Post|''Washington Post'']] as the Brotherhood's “intellectual godfather” – was widely understood to be one of the main inspirations for [[Osama bin Laden]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/nov/01/afghanistan.terrorism3|title=Is this the man who inspired Bin Laden?|date=2001-10-31|work=The Guardian|access-date=2017-04-28|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2002/09/16/the-man-behind-bin-laden|title=The Man Behind Bin Laden|website=The New Yorker|access-date=2017-04-28}}</ref> Qutb's famous book, [[Milestones (book)|“''Milestones''”]], became a “classic manifesto of the terrorist wing of Islamic fundamentalism”, according to ''[[The New York Times]]''''.''<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/23/magazine/the-philosopher-of-islamic-terror.html|title=The Philosopher of Islamic Terror|last=Berman|first=Paul|date=2003-03-23|work=The New York Times|access-date=2017-04-28|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Qutb also served as an inspiration to bin Laden's successor and current leader of [[Al-Qaeda]], [[Ayman al-Zawahiri|Ayman Al-Zawahiri]], who has frequently quoted Qutb in his own writings.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.cfr.org/terrorist-leaders/profile-ayman-al-zawahiri/p9750|title=Profile: Ayman al-Zawahiri|work=Council on Foreign Relations|access-date=2017-04-28|language=en}}</ref>
The Egyptian government designated the Brotherhood as a terrorist organization in December 2013.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/09/egyptian-court-muslim-brotherhood-freedom-and-justice-party|title=Egypt: court dissolves Muslim Brotherhood's political wing|date=2014-08-09|work=The Guardian|access-date=2017-04-28|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref>
As of February 2017, the [[Donald Trump|Trump]] administration was considering whether to designate the Brotherhood as a foreign terrorist organization, stemming from the group's long history with violence.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/07/world/middleeast/muslim-brotherhood-terrorism-trump.html|title=White House Weighs Terrorist Designation for Muslim Brotherhood|last=Baker|first=Peter|date=2017-02-07|work=The New York Times|access-date=2017-04-28|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The group has links to terrorist actors and organizations including its Palestinian branch, [[Hamas]], as well as Al-Qaeda.

===Review of Brotherhood activities in the UK===
In 2014, World Media Services, publisher of the Brotherhood's Ikhwaan Press, set up a location in a nondescript London suburb, keeping a low profile given the Egyptian government's pursuit to arrest and sentence members of the organization.<ref name=":1"/>

''[[Al Jazeera]]'' reported that the Brotherhood's activities in London “caused concern in Britain”, and that [[David Cameron]] – then prime minister – “commissioned an internal government review into the philosophy and activities of the Muslim Brotherhood” to ultimately probe any “path of extremism and violent extremism, what its connections are with other groups, what its presence is here in the United Kingdom.”<ref name=":1"/>

Britain's foreign and domestic intelligence services, [[MI5|MI6]] and [[MI5]], were to aid in the investigation of violent activities by the Brotherhood, along with its senior leaders – such as Soudan – living in the U.K.<ref name=":1"/>

===Statements on Muslim Brotherhood===
In 2012, Soudan addressed the Brotherhood's stance on interpretation of [[Islam]], and said that while they do not wish to establish an Islamic state, they ultimately prefer “a slower and more moderate way. With alcohol, for instance, Soudan said he’d rather it not be sold, but recognizes it’s big business.”<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.pri.org/stories/2012-02-23/division-developing-between-main-islamist-parties-egypt|title=Division developing between main Islamist parties in Egypt|work=Public Radio International|access-date=2017-04-28|language=en-US}}</ref>

Since Morsi's overthrow, the Brotherhood has been warring with the current government and President [[Abdel Fattah el-Sisi|Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi]], who declared that the Brotherhood is welcome to resume participation in the political scene, only under the conditions that “they decide to renounce violence.”<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ikhwanweb.com/article.php?id=31820 |title=Archived copy |access-date=2017-04-28 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170528215827/http://www.ikhwanweb.com/article.php?id=31820 |archive-date=2017-05-28 }}</ref>

Soudan commented on the Brotherhood's involvement in the conflict in a 2014 statement:<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ikhwanweb.com/article.php?id=31904 |title=Archived copy |access-date=2017-04-28 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170528215746/http://www.ikhwanweb.com/article.php?id=31904 |archive-date=2017-05-28 }}</ref><blockquote>“The Muslim Brotherhood and the Alliance did not and will not stop participation in the revolutionary movement – until the bloody military junta is fully defeated and completely ousted, and fair retribution is achieved.”</blockquote>In a February 2017 press statement, somewhat contradictory to his earlier proclamation, Soudan said:<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ikhwanweb.com/article.php?id=32762 |title=Archived copy |access-date=2017-04-28 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170403092554/http://www.ikhwanweb.com/article.php?id=32762 |archive-date=2017-04-03 }}</ref><blockquote>“Violence has no place in the Muslim Brotherhood’s chosen and established approach or in its ideology. We always condemn violence as a means to solve problems or stop oppressors.”</blockquote>

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soudan, Mohamed}}
[[Category:1956 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Freedom and Justice Party (Egypt) politicians]]
[[Category:Muslim Brotherhood politicians]]

Mohamed Soudan - Revision history

->Monkbot: Task 18 (cosmetic): eval 18 templates: del empty params (4×); hyphenate params (9×);