Egypt lists top Brotherhood leader, 17 others as terrorists: state media

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's public prosecutor has listed the Muslim Brotherhood's leader and 17 other top members of the group as terrorists, state media said on Sunday, part of a sustained crackdown by the authorities on Islamists. Egypt has already listed the Brotherhood as a terrorist organisation and jailed thousands of its supporters since the army removed Islamist president Mohamed Mursi from power in July 2013 following mass protests against his rule. The Brotherhood's General Guide Mohamed Badie and Khairat El-Shater were listed alongside other members of the group's leadership, state news agency MENA said. The move by public prosecutor Hesham Barakat was the first application of a terrorism law passed this year that requires the authorities to identify and list terrorist individuals and entities, MENA said. Most members of the Brotherhood's leadership in Egypt are in custody and have already been given lengthy jail sentences or the death penalty. Badie has already been sentenced to death several times and Shater to life in prison. The government blames the Brotherhood for attacks on Egyptian security forces that have killed hundreds of police officers and soldiers since Mursi's ouster. The Brotherhood denies it is responsible for the attacks by suspected Islamist militants and says it is committed to political change through peaceful means.