Bahrain Mirror: US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has said the classification of the Muslim Brotherhood in its entirety as a "terror" group complicates the security and politics of the Middle East.

Tillerson said it was problematic to place the entire organization - whose members amount to more than five million, some of whom occupy positions in governments across the region - on a "terror list".

"There are elements of the Muslim Brotherhood that have become parts of governments," he said, pointing out parliaments in Bahrain and Turkey as examples.

"Those elements... have done so by renouncing violence and terrorism," he said.

"So in designating the Brotherhood in its totality as a terrorist organization... I think you can appreciate the complexities this enters into our relations with [governments in the region]," he added.

Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt and Bahrain classified 59 individuals and 12 bodies as "terrorist", including Qatar-funded charity organizations, and accused them of supporting terrorism.

This comes days after these 4 states cut ties with Qatar, accusing it of supporting Islamist insurgents and Iran. Qatar has repeatedly denied these accusations, while many other countries cut their diplomatic ties with it.

Arabic Version