Head of Egyptian parliament's Human Rights Committee Tarek Radwan sharply criticized US Congressman Tom Malinowski for his support of Muslim Brotherhood activists and political Islam movements.

 

In a statement issued on Saturday, Radwan said the attempts being exerted by Tom Malinowski - a Democratic party member of the House of Representatives - to open the doors of the US Congress before members of Muslim Brotherhood are totally rejected. "Malinowski has recently announced the formation of the so-called Egypt Human Rights Caucus, and wants to use this forum to allow members of the Muslim Brotherhood to hold hearing sessions and conferences inside the US congress on the situation of human rights in Egypt," said Radwan, adding that "the step is a dangerous development because it represents a violation of the UN Charter which states that no country has the right to directly or indirectly interfere into the internal and external affairs of any other country."

 

Radwan said US Congressman Tom Malinowski's attempts will imply helping the terrorist group (Muslim Brotherhood) deceive American policymakers and public opinion in terms of introducing its members and officials as political activists defending human and civilian rights. "But Congress member Malinowski should know that this is a dangerous game because when you open the door of the Congress for a group with an Islamist Jihadist and violent ideology you will cause harm to America's national security itself," added Radwan, arguing that  "playing games with political Islam movements, and the Muslim Brotherhood in particular, will only hurt American national security." "Let me ask US congressmen and politicians to draw lessons from the wars in Afghanistan, Somalia, Iraq and Libya, because in these countries, America supported Islamist jihadists and political Islam movements in one way or another and at the end this caused big harm to the United States and Western countries in the form of the proliferation of terrorist movements  and threats around the world," said Radwan.

 

According to Radwan, it is the duty of Egyptian parliamentarians who represent all classes of the Egyptian society to issue initiatives to the US Capitol Hill, cautioning US Congressmen like Tom Malinowsky against forging contacts with political Islam and jihadist movements. "It is very dangerous to forge contacts with such malicious movements because in this way you help them infiltrate the American society and pose a threat to American national security itself," said Radwan, also emphasising that "political Islam movements are a big danger to the stability and security of Egypt and other Arab countries which designated Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization."

 

In Radwan's words: "all in the US and the West should recall that the Muslim Brotherhood is the mother of all Islamist terrorist organizations like Hasm, the Army of Islam, IS, Al-Qaeda and Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis, that all of these were designated terrorist organisations by the United States and most Western countries and that all of these were born from the womb of Muslim Brotherhood."

 

A lot of Egyptian MPs have recently criticised the decision of two US Congressmen – Tom Malinowski and Don Beyer to form "the Egypt Human Rights Caucus". Deputy Parliament Speaker Mohamed Abul-Enein said the formation of such a caucus represents a direct intervention into the internal affairs of Egypt.

 

Ashraf Rashad, the Spokesman of the Parliamentary majority of the Mostaqbal Watan party, said "Egyptian MPs could ask the US administration to release the former US President Donald Trump supporters who protested before the US Congress (Capitol Hill) on 6 January simply because this is against the right of organising demonstrations," said Rashad. "But we don't like to interfere into the affairs of other countries and we urge US congressmen to focus on America's internal problems rather than intervening into the affairs of other countries," he added.

 

The two Democratic party US members of the House of Representatives Malinowski and Beyer announced on 25 January the formation of the so-called "the Egypt Human Rights Caucus" to mark the 10th anniversary of the Egyptian revolution.

 

Rep Beyer said "Egypt remains a key ally, but its human rights record – including the years-long detention of my constituent Aya Hijazi – remains a major concern, and we must stand up to demand better of our closest allies."

 

Tom Malinowski said "the Egypt Human Rights caucus will reflect and help shape the growing consensus in Congress that we need to rebalance our relationship with this important country."

 

Both Members of Congress Malinowski and Beyer previously served in the US State Department. Malinowski, a Democrat representing New Jersey, was a Former Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labour under the administration of Former US President Barack Obama.