Saudis: Muslim Brotherhood a terror group

Saudi Arabia declared Friday that the banned Muslim Brotherhood and two al-Qaeda-linked groups fighting with Syrian rebels are terrorist organizations, promising stiff prison terms for Saudis who join, fund, endorse or fight with them.

The designations follow a royal decree last month that mandated imprisonment up to 20 years for for Saudis belonging to terrorist groups or fighting abroad. A committee then drew up a list of banned groups, which King Abdullah approved, the Interior Ministry said Friday in an announcement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.

The statement identified the other terrorist groups as al-Qaeda's branches in Yemen and Iraq, the Syrian al-Nusra Front, Saudi Hezbollah and Yemen's Shiite Hawthis. All Saudi citizens and foreign residents fighting with those groups were ordered to return within 15 days or face imprisonment.

"It should be noted that included also are any similar organizations with similar ideologies, discourses, and actions along with all those groups and factions noted on the lists of the Security Council and international bodies and are identified as terroristic and committed to violence," the Interior Ministry added.

The new law bans meetings of the groups inside or outside of the kingdom and covers comments made online or to media outlets. Amnesty International said Saudi authorities could use the law to suppress peaceful political dissent.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/03/07/saudi-arabia-brotherhood-terrorist/6174147/