Egypt names Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist group

Egypt's military-backed interim government has declared the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist group, a dramatic escalation that gives authorities more power in cracking down on them.

Hossam Eissa, the Minister of Higher Education, read out the Cabinet statement after long meeting on Wednesday.

Eissa said: "The Cabinet has declared the Muslim Brotherhood group and its organization as a terrorist organization."

Eissa added that the implications of the declaration punish those who belong to the group, financing it and those promoting the group's activities.

The Brotherhood is the group that ousted President Mohammed Morsi belongs to and which has waged near-daily protests since a July 3 popularly backed military coup toppled his government.

Authorities blamed the Brotherhood for militant attacks now striking Egypt, a claim the Brotherhood repeatedly has denied.

Sinai-based militant group Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis said on Wednesday it had carried out the attack on an Egyptian police compound in the Nile Delta city of Mansoura which killed 16 people and wounded about 140.