Egypt welcomes Congress bill designating Brotherhood as terrorist group

Egypt has welcomed a move by the United States Congress to label the Muslim Brotherhood a foreign terrorist organisation.

"The move shows that the entire world has started realising Egypt’s point of view," presidency spokesperson Alaa Youssef reportedly told state news agency MENA on Sunday.

On Wednesday, a Republican-led House Judiciary Committee approved the legislation, while Democrats opposed it, with a 17-10 vote.

The legislation, submitted in late 2015, reviews the Brotherhood's terrorist history and how it has been banned in several countries, such as Egypt, Russia, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Syria.

If the measure is signed into law, the Treasury Department would be able to require US banks and financial institutions to block transactions involving assets held by the Brotherhood.

According to supporters of the bill, the US would also have to deny admittance to non-US citizens who are tied to the banned group.

Last year, the UK commissioned a review into the Muslim Brotherhood to determine whether the group was a terrorist organisation and should be banned, which concluded that it was not.

Controversially, the review said that membership or association with the organisation was a "possible indicator of extremism".

The publication of the investigation had been delayed several times amid pressure from Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, who lobbied the British government to list the Brotherhood as a terrorist group.

We have not seen credible evidence that the Muslim Brotherhood has renounced its decades-long commitment to non-violence. - The White House

The Brotherhood says it's a peaceful charitable and political group.

A contradictory stance was taken in November 2014, when the White House responded to a "We the People" petition calling on the Obama administration to declare the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organisation.

"We have not seen credible evidence that the Muslim Brotherhood has renounced its decades-long commitment to non-violence," the response said.

Egypt declared the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist group in 2013, when the group's former leader Mohamed Morsi was overthrown as president by a military coup.