Now Some in the U.K. Are Worried About the Muslim Brotherhood's Influence in Gov't

A group with undeclared ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas has held meetings in at Britain's Houses of Parliament, the British Daily Telegraph newspaper reported.

The two events, which took place in March and September, were organized by the Emirates Centre for Human Rights which according to the Telegraph has close ties with a group that promotes establishing an Islamic caliphate in Europe and bringing down Persian Gulf regimes.

Image source: British Parliament

The Telegraph reported the center is "fronted by a young white British man, Rori Donaghy. It makes no mention on its website or in any other publicity of its close links with the Islamist Cordoba Foundation, described by the Prime Minister, David Cameron, as a ‘political front for the Muslim Brotherhood.’”

The newspaper wrote that the ECHR’s website is registered to a woman named Malath Shakir, a former director of the Cordoba Foundation, which describes itself as a group that strives “to provide a space for the meeting of minds towards the goal of understanding each other.”

“We believe that a clash of civilizations is neither inevitable nor necessary,” the foundation states on its website.

But according to the Telegraph, the Cordoba Foundation "works closely with other British extremist groups which seek the creation of an Islamic dictatorship, or caliphate, in Europe.”

The Caliphate of Cordoba ruled much of Spain from the years 929-1031 A.D.

The founder and CEO of the Cordoba Foundation is Malath Shakir’s husband, Anas Altikriti, a “key political lobbyist for the Muslim Brotherhood in Britain,” the Telegraph reported.

“Mr Altikriti has also been spokesman for the British Muslim Initiative, closely linked to the banned Hamas terrorist group. The BMI’s director, Mohammed Sawalha, is a senior figure in Hamas who is said by the BBC to have ‘masterminded much of Hamas’s political and military strategy,’” the Telegraph reported.

A Twitter account for a Malath Shakir has as its profile photo the yellow four-fingered Rabia salute associated with Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood (also known as R4BIA). While the Twitter account includes no biographical details, one tweet refers to a son who has the same last name as Shakir's husband. Other tweets are addressed to Anas Altikriti.

Rori Donaghy of the Emirates Centre for Human Rights, which organized the events in Parliament, refuted the claims in the Telegraph's report, saying, “Anas Altikriti helped set up the Emirates Centre for Human Rights, but now has nothing to do with it. I work with Human Rights Watch, Amnesty and others on a range of issues from migrant workers to the treatment of rape victims and foreign expats. It is not a front for anyone.”

Altikriti also denied the report via Twitter. “I neither lobby for MB nor do I have anything to do with ECFR. Had [Telegraph reporter Andrew] Gilligan been seeking the truth he would've called me,” he wrote.

One member of Parliament who was involved in the March meeting told the Telegraph that he was not aware of any Islamist ties.

“I was asked to chair the meeting in my capacity as an officer of the all-party parliamentary human rights group,” MP Mark Durkan said. “I was unaware of the group’s links and it is a matter that I will be discussing with the group.”

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