London-based Muslim Brotherhood official sanctioned over alleged Hamas fundraising
Move by the US piles fresh pressure on the UK to review its approach to the Islamist movement, which remains legal in Britain
The United States has imposed sanctions on a London-based senior Muslim Brotherhood official accused of helping raise money for organisations alleged to have supported Hamas, in a move that is likely to renew scrutiny of the group’s presence in Britain.
The US Treasury announced that Mahmoud al-Abyari, an Egyptian-Austrian national who serves as secretary-general of the Muslim Brotherhood General Secretariat, has been placed under sanctions. The measures include an asset freeze and a travel ban.
According to the Treasury, al-Abyari helped raise funds for two Turkish charities, Filistin Vakfi and Hayat Yolu, which Washington alleges collected money for Hamas following the 7 October 2023 terrorist attacks on Israel.
The sanctions were announced alongside measures targeting several organisations accused by the US of providing financial support to Hamas.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said: “The Trump administration will relentlessly pursue terrorists and those who finance them. Whether operating under the guise of charities, businesses or underground financial networks, those who enable Hamas will be exposed, sanctioned and held accountable.”
The development has renewed attention on the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist movement from which Hamas emerged. Hamas was founded in the late 1980s by Sheikh Ahmed Yassin as the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood and is designated as a terrorist organisation by the UK, the US and other countries.
The Muslim Brotherhood itself, however, is not banned in the UK.
A government review commissioned under former Prime Minister David Cameron examined whether the organisation should be proscribed. Published in 2015, the review concluded that while the Brotherhood generally pursued gradual political change, some of its ideology and activities were linked to extremism.
The report’s author, Sir John Jenkins, wrote: “For the most part, the Muslim Brotherhood have preferred non-violent incremental change on the grounds of expediency.” However, he also concluded that the movement was “prepared to countenance violence – including, from time to time, terrorism – where gradualism is ineffective.”
Robin Simcox, the former UK Commissioner for Countering Extremism, welcomed the US action and urged Britain to take a tougher approach.
He said: “Governments have been putting the Muslim Brotherhood on the ‘too-difficult’ pile for decades. That must change. We cannot just rely on Washington to take action regarding an issue that, first and foremost, is one in our own backyard.
“I consistently recommended to the government it must take a proactive approach to meeting the challenge the Brotherhood poses head-on. I hope that now happens.”
The sanctions form part of the Trump administration’s wider campaign to target Hamas’ international financial networks following the group’s 7 October attacks. The US has also designated Muslim Brotherhood branches in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Sudan as terrorist organisations, although no such designation applies to the wider movement in Britain.