Egypt minister calls for killing 400,000 Brotherhood members and supporters

Egypt’s justice minister said on Wednesday that he will not rest until hundreds of thousands of Muslim Brotherhood members and their supporters are killed, in revenge for slain army and police officers.

Ahmad al-Zend told an Egyptian television programme that 400,000 Muslim Brotherhood members, who he described as terrorists, should be put to death.

“I swear to God, the fire will not be put out in my heart unless at least ten thousand [MB members] for each [slain officer] are killed,” the former appeals court judge said.

In response to Zend's 400,000 figure, the host of the television show said there were only 10,000 Muslim Brotherhood members. Zend then clarified “not just them, but those who assist them, love them and those who got used to money from Turkey, Qatar and Iran”.

Zend, a fierce and outspoken critic of the Muslim Brotherhood, was appointed to his position in May 2015, after his predecessor Mahfouz Saber said that the sons of garbage collectors could not be good judges because they do not come from morally and financially respectable backgrounds.

The minister also said that he will resign from his post if the death penalties of jailed Brotherhood leaders are not carried out.

According to the Rassd, a Cairo-based online citizens news network, Zend swore to ensure jailed former president Mohamed Morsi is executed. Morsi, who was ousted in July 2013 in a popularly backed military coup, has been condemned to death for his role in a mass jailbreak during the 2011 revolution.

“Egypt fears no one, and we will not back down from carrying that out,” Zend said.

Violence in Egypt has risen in the Sinai Peninsula since the Muslim Brotherhood was ousted from the presidency. 

Despite repeated attempts by the military to root out Islamic State (IS) group linked militants, hundreds of Egyptian soldiers and policemen have been killed, mostly in the Sinai.

Since July 2013, more than 1,150 people have been killed, some 40,000 arrested and hundreds more sentenced to death in highly controversial mass trials.