Ibrahim Mounir, the acting general guide of the "banned" Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, said that the group will not enter into a new power struggle after it was ousted from power nine years ago, although it still enjoys broad popular support.

Munir ruled out that the group will return to compete for power through the ballot box, something that the group cannot do directly while it is still banned.

The Brotherhood won Egypt's first free presidential election in 2012, but was ousted by the army a year after taking power following protests against its rule, and it has since been facing a harsh crackdown.

Many of the group's leaders and thousands of its supporters are in prison or have fled abroad, and the group has been excluded from a political dialogue that will soon be launched by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who ousted the group from power when he was army chief in 2013.

Egypt considers the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization, but Mounir reiterated the group's position against violence.

refusal of violence

Mounir said in an interview with Reuters, "We reject violence completely and consider it outside the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood, not only that we use violence or weapons, but even that there is a struggle for rule in Egypt in any form."

And the acting Brotherhood guide added, "Even if the conflict is between parties in political elections or other... these matters are totally unacceptable to us and we do not accept them."

He added that the movement, which for decades built a network of charitable organizations in Egypt, still enjoys the sympathy of many of the country's 102 million people.

political dialogue

In a related context, Munir said that the political dialogue expected to start within weeks between the government and selected opposition groups is not a serious initiative and cannot achieve results if the Brotherhood or others are excluded from it.

He continued, "Dialogue is required and correct, but it must also include everyone."

But the general coordinator of the dialogue had said that the Muslim Brotherhood could not participate because it had "blood on its hands."

Mounir, 85, was imprisoned twice in Egypt in the 1950s and 1960s and has lived abroad during the past forty years.

He said that the Muslim Brotherhood has gone through difficult times before, but certainly this time is more severe than all past ordeals, which it has witnessed since its founding more than 90 years ago.

Mounir added that it is not clear how many Brotherhood supporters are imprisoned in Egypt, also referring to the confiscation of funds for many of them.

The state press center did not respond to a request for comment.

Officials deny holding political prisoners and say security measures with the Brotherhood are necessary to stabilize the country.

Munir took over the acting leadership two years ago because the general guide has been imprisoned since the group lost power in 2013, and then his first deputy was arrested in 2020.

Munir acknowledged that the group suffered from internal divisions over how to deal with the crisis and explained that the selection of a new guide would be made "when the situation stabilizes."

Regional shifts

A diplomatic shift in the Middle East exacerbated the challenges facing the Muslim Brotherhood, when two countries that granted asylum to Brotherhood supporters in the past decade, Turkey and Qatar, repaired relations with an axis of states committed to crushing the group, including Egypt, the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

Last year, Turkey asked the opposition Egyptian television channels operating on its soil to ease criticism of the Egyptian government, at a time when it was seeking to rebuild relations with Egypt.

Mounir said that the Brotherhood has not yet come under pressure in Turkey, explaining that "the Turkish state has the right to do anything to achieve its security and the safety of its people."