December 26, 2013 - 10:08 AMT
Egypt’s interim govt. officially declares Muslim Brotherhood terrorist group

Egypt's interim government officially declared the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization on Wednesday, Dec 25 blamed it for a bombing this week that killed 16 people, and announced that anyone who is a member of the group will be punished, according to CNN.

Hossam Issa, the interim minister of higher education and a deputy prime minister, announced the Cabinet's decision on state-run al-Masriaya television.

"The government reiterates that there will be no return to the past under any circumstances and Egypt, the state and the people, will never succumb to the terrorism of the Muslim Brotherhood whose crimes have gone far beyond all moral, religious and human limits," he said.

The government also will punish anyone giving the group financial support, Issa added.

Hundreds of supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood took to the streets in towns and cities across Egypt after the announcement.

In Alexandria, some protesters threw fireworks at authorities and set fire to police cars as young people marched through the streets chanting "Sisi is a traitor," according to the official Facebook page of the Freedom and Justice Party, the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood. "Sisi" refers to Egypt's new leader, Gen. Abdel Fatah El Sisi.

In Cairo, demonstrators holding up the four-finger sign in honor of Rabaa ("four" in Arabic) flooded the residential neighborhood of Dokki. Police violently cleared the Muslim Brotherhood's protest camp at the Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque earlier this year, killing hundreds of people in the single bloodiest day in Egypt's modern history.

Tamarod, the grass-roots political faction responsible for organizing the petition campaign that led to the overthrow of President Mohamed Morsy in July by the Egyptian military, issued a statement on its official website.

"The government's decision announcing the Brotherhood group a terrorist organization is a good step, and it came late but better to come late than never," it said.

Issa made the announcement despite the fact that Ansar Jerusalem, a jihadist group responsible for attacks in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, has claimed responsibility for the attack on a security forces headquarters.

On Sunday, Ansar Jerusalem issued an online statement calling on army and police members to quit.

But Issa said it was an "ugly crime" perpetrated by the Brotherhood.

In addition to the 16 people killed in the early morning twin bombings, 130 people were wounded. More than 40 people remained hospitalized Wednesday. CNN first learned of the blasts from Twitter.