Cairo: In a further blow to the Muslim Brotherhood, an Egyptian court today upheld the designation of ousted president Mohammed Morsi's organisation as a terrorist group.
The Court for Urgent Matters upheld the designation of the Brotherhood as a terrorist group.
The interim government had declared the Brotherhood a terrorist group in December but the decision had not been approved of by a court until now, Ahram Online reported.
The Brotherhood has been blamed for militant attacks since the ouster of Morsi - a longtime member of the group - in July 2013.
The attacks have mainly targeted the security forces, with the exception of a bomb in South Sinai in February that killed four civilians, including three South Korean tourists.
The Brotherhood has repeatedly condemned the attacks and denied responsibility for them.
The 85-year-old Islamist movement was banned by Egypt's military rulers in 1954, but registered an NGO called the Muslim Brotherhood Association in March this year in response to a court case bought by opponents who contested its legal status.
The Brotherhood also has a political wing, the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), which was set up in 2011 as a “non-theocratic” group after the uprising that forced President Hosni Mubarak from power.
Following Morsi's overthrow and the suspension of the Islamist-friendly 2012 constitution, the Cairo administrative court and the social solidarity ministry were tasked with reviewing the Brotherhood's legal status.
In September, a ruling by the Cairo Court for Urgent Matters banned the Brotherhood itself, the NGO, as well as “any institution derived from or belonging to the Brotherhood” or “receiving financial support from it”.
More than seven months after Morsi's overthrow, Egypt is still struggling with protests and militant attacks have damaged its vital tourism industry.
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