Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry confirmed that there is no desire to reconcile with the Muslim Brotherhood, the group that has banned by the authorities since 2013 and labeled as terrorist. “President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi repeatedly reaffirms that Egypt belongs to all Egyptians, so long they abide by the law,” Shoukry told state television. For over five years, Muslim Brotherhood leaders have proposed initiatives to reconcile with Egyptian authorities, but they were met with failure. They included a proposal by Ibrahim Mounir, the Brotherhoods deputy leader, who called for negotiations with Egyptian authorities on condition that the government release Brotherhood prisoners, namely former President Mohamed Morsi. Meanwhile, Egypt’s Grand Mufti Shawki Allam issued a statement condemning the Muslim Brotherhood, decrying it as a terrorist group. “These terrorist groups have proclaimed their right to state and jurisdictions-- they gave themselves this right falsely and bluntly, did not act in defense, but acted out in crime and therefore must be eradicated.” Allam added that such terror groups wreak havoc wrongly in the name of religion, validating brutality by explaining religious excerpts taken out of context. On February 9, Egyptian military and security forces launched a campaign in Sinai against terrorists holed up in the region. In November, Sisi instructed the army and police to “use all force necessary to pull terror out from the roots.”