Trump administration debates designating Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist group

In US, a debate is underway in the Trump administration about whether the United States should declare the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization and subject it to US sanctions. 

A faction led by Michael Flynn, Trump's National Security Advisor, wants to add the Brotherhood to the State Department and US Treasury lists of foreign terrorist organizations, the sources said. 

The advisor said Flynn's team discussed adding the group to the US list of terrorist groups but said it was ultimately unclear when or even if the



administration ultimately would go ahead with such a move.Other Trump advisors, as well as many veteran national security, diplomatic, law enforcement and intelligence officials argue the Brotherhood has evolved peacefully in some countries. 

They worry that a US move to designate the entire Brotherhood a terrorist group will complicate relations with Turkey, a key American ally in the fight against Islamic State. Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, the country's oldest Islamist movement, was designated as a terrorist organization in that country in 2013.