Saudi Arabia on Friday blacklisted the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization, along with three other Middle East-based militant groups, Al Arabiya News Channel reported, citing a royal decree.Well, it's official. Israel is more tolerant towards Muslim extremists than Saudi Arabia is. In Israel, someone has to make a public speech advocating terror before he is branded a criminal; in Saudi Arabia you can now be jailed for a tweet in support of the Muslim Brotherhood.
The Saudi terrorism list also includes the kingdom’s branch of the Shiite movement Hezbollah and Syria-based militant groups the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and the al-Qaeda linked al-Nusra Front.
Hundreds of Saudi fighters are believed to have joined ISIS and al-Nusra in Syria.
The royal decree gives fighters a 15-day ultimatum to return home. The declaration came after King Abdullah announced on Feb. 3 tough penalties for activities deemed as terrorism.
Under the previous decree, Saudi citizens fighting abroad face up to 20 years in jail. Similar punishments will be applied to “extremist religious and ideological groups, or those classified as terrorist groups, domestically, regionally and internationally,” the state news agency SPA reported at the time.
The royal decree also criminalized taking membership in, supporting and sympathizing with any of those groups “through speech or writing.”
At the same time, Mauritania also outlawed the Muslim Brotherhood.