Special to WorldTribune.com

ABU DHABI — Saudi Arabia, in wake of its crisis with Qatar, has deemed the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization.

The Interior Ministry said the Brotherhood has been banned as a terrorist organization.

On March 7, the ministry added the Brotherhood to a list that included the Iranian-backed Saudi Hizbullah, Al Qaida’s Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, Nusra Front for the Defense of the Levant.

“The following rulings criminalize citizens and residents,” the ministry said, “whoever is a member of or endorses those parties, organizations, groups, factions, or gatherings; or is sympathetic towards or promoting their ideologies or holds meetings under their umbrella whether inside or outside the kingdom.”

The ban on the Brotherhood and other insurgency groups took effect on March 8. The Interior Ministry said the latest decree outlawed any communications with or financing or promotion of these groups.

Other groups on the Saudi ban were identified as Al Qaida in the Arabian
Peninsula and Shi’ite rebels in Yemen, called Houthis. Officials said the
list of banned organizations would be reviewed.

The Saudi move was welcomed by its allies, particularly Egypt and the
United Arab Emirates. Over the last six months, Riyad has become a leading
financier of the military-backed regime in Cairo.

“The UAE will not spare any effort to bolster the cooperation with
brothers in Saudi Arabia to tackle those terrorist groups through
liquidating all forms of material and moral support in all
circumstances,” the UAE Foreign Ministry said on March 8.

  Houthis, ISIL, lists as terrorist organization, Nusra Front, Saudi Arabia bans Muslim Brotherhood