Date: Jul 16, 2019 Source: The Daily Star Kuwait hands Muslim Brotherhood-linked militants to Egypt Kuwait's return of Egyptian dissidents unlawful: HRW Reuters DUBAI: Kuwait has handed over to Egyptian authorities eight members of a militant cell arrested on its territory and who it said were linked to the Muslim Brotherhood group, state news agency KUNA reported. Kuwait's interior ministry said Friday the Egyptians belonged to a "terrorist" cell linked to the Brotherhood. They had fled to Kuwait after being sentenced by Egyptian authorities to jail terms of up to 15 years, it said. Kuwait has not specified the circumstances of their sentencing, and there has been no official comment on the case from Egyptian judicial authorities either. The men were returned under the terms of bilateral agreements, KUNA quoted a senior foreign ministry official as saying late on Sunday. The interior ministry said investigations were ongoing to discover other cell members. Egypt banned the group in 2013 after late Muslim Brotherhood President Mohamed Morsi, the first democratically elected head of state in Egypt's modern history, was toppled by the military following widespread unrest. Since then, Egyptian authorities have arrested tens of thousands of political opponents, many of them Islamists, according to human rights organizations. The Brotherhood says it publicly renounced violence decades ago and pursues an Islamist political vision using peaceful means. Kuwait's return of Egyptian dissidents unlawful: HRW Agence France Presse DUBAI: Kuwait's deportation of eight Egyptian dissidents linked to the Muslim Brotherhood is unlawful and put them at "grave risk" of torture and prosecution, Human Rights Watch said Tuesday. The Gulf state announced Friday that secret police arrested the men on charges of being members of a "terrorist" cell who had been sentenced to prison in Egypt. Kuwait's Deputy Foreign Finister Khaled al-Jarallah told reporters Sunday the men were handed over to the Egyptian authorities. "The deportation of the men appears to violate Kuwait's obligations under international law," HRW said in a statement. The New York-based rights group called on Kuwait to end further deportations to Egypt of anyone at risk of mistreatment. "Kuwaiti authorities have put at grave risk eight men who fled mass oppression in Egypt and thought they had found refuge in Kuwait," said HRW's Middle East and North Africa director, Sarah Leah Whitson. "It's horrendous that Kuwait is acting at the behest of abusive Egyptian security agencies and returning dissidents to face torture and persecution." Egyptian authorities have led a crackdown on Muslim Brotherhood members since the military overthrew Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013. Later that year Egypt outlawed the Muslim Brotherhood and declared it a "terrorist organization". Egypt's regional allies, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, also consider the Muslim Brotherhood a "terrorist" organization.