Egypt to dissolve Muslim Brotherhood as NGO: state media

Egypt's interim government has decided to dissolve the Muslim Brotherhood as a registered non-governmental organization, the state-run Al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Friday, adding that the decision would not be officially announced until next week.

"The minister's decision has in fact been issued, but it will be announced at the start of next week in a press conference," Al-Akhbar quoted Hany Mahana, spokesman for the minister of social solidarity, as saying.

However, the prime minister's office told the BBC that the government had not yet made its decision on the Muslim Brotherhood case.

On Sept. 2, a judicial panel recommended that the Brotherhood's NGO status be revoked, saying that the Brotherhood had operated outside the law.

The case concerns the NGO that was formally registered by the Brotherhood in March in response to a lawsuit that argued the movement had no legal status.

Thousands continued to demonstrate in Egypt on Friday, with two protesters killed in clashes between Moris supporters and their opponents.

One person was killed in Alexandria and another in Damietta province, medics told Agence France-Presse.

AFP correspondents in Cairo said protesters rallied in the upscale suburb of Maadi following the weekly Friday Muslim prayers.

Official media said smaller protests erupted in the afternoon in several provinces across the country.

The Brotherhood was founded in 1928 and formally dissolved by Egypt's army rulers in 1954.

The group swept to power after the fall of ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak; but his his successor, the Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi, was deposed by the military on July 3, 2013.

Morsi now stands trial for incitement to violence and spying, along with other of the movement's top leaders.

The administrative court dealing with the Brotherhood's case is next due to meet on Nov. 12.

Reuters contributed to this report.