2006: Britain Plans to Reach Out to Muslim Brotherhood

Three government memos leaked to the press and published on New Statesman and NPR on February, 2006 reveals that the British government was in the process of building diplomatic ties with the Muslim Brotherhood in early 2006. The documents, leaked to the press, recommends increased engagement with the group, a proposal that British’s former foreign secretary Jack Straw accepted at the time.The leaked documents, include a memo to the Middle East minister Kim Howells, dated 17 January 2006 and obtained by New Statesman magazine, shows that the British government was preparing to open lines of communication with the Brotherhood in 2006. The memo from the FCO’s Arab/Israel and North Africa Group recommends increasing “the frequency of working-level contacts with Muslim Brotherhood parliamentarians (who do not advocate violence), particularly those who are members of parliamentary committees”.Listen to NPR Audio report:
NPR Audio report

Sources: New Statesman.com