CAIRO: An Egyptian military court trying 40 members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood group announced Sunday that it was dropping some of the charges against the group, but declined to give further details. The charges that have been dropped are those of terrorism and money laundering, yet members still face charges of belonging to a banned group and for certain members, such as financier Mohammed Khayrat El-Shater among others, they still face charges of running businesses on behalf of a banned group. However, the tribunal did not specify if the dropped charges were comprehensive, who was exonerated or who would remain charged. MB lawyer Abdel-Moneim Abdel-Maqsoud told Daily News Egypt that the court decision was ambiguous and that they would be looking for clarification. He said, "Some charges have been dropped, such as the charges of terrorism and money laundering, but it was not made clear against whom the charges were dropped. We have asked for a copy of the court decision so we can see specifically what charges have been dropped and against whom. The lawyer added that he expected to receive the court decision in writing Sunday upon which the final nature of the changes will be clear. Numerous charges were leveled against 40 senior members of the Muslim Brotherhood including their number three in command and main financier El-Shater for charges of terrorism, money laundering and belonging to a banned group. As part of the investigation, assets worth billions of pounds were seized from the prominent businessmen, including publishing houses and pharmacies. MB members were hauled up against a military tribunal as opposed to a civil court, which both the group and human rights organizations have decried. The government crackdown on the group followed a display of military maneuvers by uniformed young Brotherhood members during a demonstration at Al-Azhar University in late 2006.
