Syrian Muslim Brothers' Shoura council to meet in Baghdad

The London-based al-Hayat daily said today that the Shoura council of the Muslim Brothers group in Syria will hold its ordinary summer session this week in Baghdad.

Leading members of the group said the council will discuss "political and organizational matters of concern to the group, including dialogue with the ruling regime in Syria."

The same sources described the dialogue between the group and the Syrian government as "a media dialogue," stating, "No meeting or mediations had taken place between the two sides and the situations between the two sides remain as before."

The sources denied any "split or disputes over dialogue with Damascus."

On the other hand, the leadership of the Muslim Brothers group in Syria, with its majority living in Jordan and Iraq, welcomed, in a statement by its general observer Sadereddine al-Bayanouni, the pardon released by Syrian President Hafez al-Assad two months ago as being "a beginning for settling the problem between the Muslim Brothers and the regime."