Diaspora of traitors: Conflicts and schisms strike Brotherhood between London and Turkey

Mustafa Kamel

In the context of the ongoing conflict within the terrorist Brotherhood, specifically between its two newly contested fronts, the Istanbul front led by Mahmoud Hussein, the former secretary-general of the group, and the London front led by Ibrahim Munir, the latter decided to isolate the group’s acting guide, Mustafa Tolba, who was recently appointed by the Istanbul front, under the claim that what happened from the Istanbul front is a crack in the rank that requires accountability.

Constant struggle

“Whoever did this is not from us and we are not from him.” With these words, the struggle within the terrorist group has become continuous, as Munir’s front said in an official statement issued on Saturday, January 29, that it did not recognize the decisions of the Istanbul front, or the General Shura Council as it is called, stressing that the group’s legitimacy is represented by the Deputy General Guide and Chargé d’Affairs Ibrahim Munir only and that what happened from the Istanbul front is a split in the rank that requires accountability.

The statement issued by the London front affirmed that what happened from Hussein’s front, in contrast to the infringement of legitimacy and the violations that took place, is part of a plan to divert the group from its principles and go beyond its constants.

“Everyone who left the rank and everyone who contributed to splitting the group and repeating false slanders is not from the group,” the statement added, announcing that it had decided to invalidate the so-called committee that works for the guide, which is represented by Mustafa Tolba.

The London front considered that everyone who participated in this committee had chosen for himself to leave the group by violating its regulations and literature, calling on everyone to work under the legitimate leadership of the Deputy Guide and the Charge d’Affairs, and by taking from it and only those who represent it, namely Munir.

The General Shura Council had announced the dismissal of Munir as acting guide of the group after Hussein, the former secretary-general of the group and a member of the Guidance Office, and his group took control of the Brotherhood’s official propaganda platforms and used them to promote their own stories for the dispute, which instigated Munir to go out in public and declare the actions taken by the suspended Hussein front as invalid, stressing that all those who contributed to those measures expelled themselves from the group.

Official representative in Istanbul

On the other hand, the Istanbul front said that the Shura Council met and decided to form a temporary committee in the name of the Acting Committee of the General Guide from among its members to perform the tasks of the group’s General Guide for a period of six months, provided that this committee be announced at the time of the decision determined by the council, confirming that the committee has begun to exercise its work and announced the appointment of Dr. Mustafa Tolba as its official representative.

The Hussein Front appointed a new guide for the group, namely Mustafa Fahmy Tolba Hassan, and said that the new guide is a doctor and professor of general surgery and holds British citizenship. Tolba and his brother were included on Egypt’s terrorism list in Case No. 784 of 2021.

His brother, Ali Fahmy Tolba, took over the management of a series of Brotherhood investments in Egypt, including Radio Shack stores, and served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Delta Software and Business Solutions, one of the largest brands, and owns the CompuMe, Computer Shop, Mobile Shop and Smart Home chains, and he also controls about 80% of the retail trade in the fields of communications, electronics and computers.

The Istanbul front held a conference for its members in all parts of Turkey, with the participation of the group’s Egyptian administration, to appoint an acting leader for the group, and in the presence of a large number of the front’s leaders and members of the General Shura Council.

Brotherhood elements loyal to Hussein’s front demanded that the new leader be granted broad powers to be defined and announced officially by the members of the General Shura Council, and that the Shura Council issue an official assignment decision in the name of the new leader and notify the group’s ranks of it.

After that, Hussein came out to make statements broadcast on the group’s websites in which he confirmed the invalidity of Munir’s decisions, his dismissal from his position, and the selection of a temporary committee to carry out the tasks of the acting guide.