The disputes between the Muslim Brotherhood’s Istanbul and London branches witnessed a “significant escalation”, after the organization’s “General Shura Council” formed a committee to assume leadership functions, and removed Ibrahim Munir from his position.
Over the past weeks, the Muslim Brotherhood saw a recurring struggle to resolve the “battle of managing the organization” abroad, between the branches in Istanbul and London.
The Istanbul Front, led by Mahmoud Hussein, the former secretary general of the organization, announced the dismissal of Munir, who leads the London Front, as the Brotherhood’s acting guide.
In a statement on Friday, the Istanbul Front said that its “General Shura Council” decided to form a temporary committee from among its members, to carry out the tasks of the “General Guide” for a period of six months. The new committee members would be announced at a time specified by the council.
According to the statement, “the committee started its work, and announced the designation of Mustafa Tolba as its official representative.”
Commenting on the developments, Amr Abdel Moneim, a researcher in fundamentalist affairs in Egypt, noted that the latest announcement by the Shura Council confirmed “the failure of all attempts to heal the rift within the organization.”
In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, Abdel Moneim said: “The organization is now witnessing a state of uncertainty, lack of clarity of vision, confusion, data war, and internal rift.”
Disputes between the Istanbul and London fronts deepened after Munir announced the dissolution of the Administrative Office for Organization Affairs in Turkey, and the dismissal of Mahmoud Hussein and others. The crisis further escalated with Hussein’s announcement of Munir’s dismissal from his post.
The Shura Council’s decisions were preceded by a conference held in Turkey, which saw an agreement to form a committee to support the new acting leader.
