Saudis revamp school curriculum to combat Muslim Brotherhood

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia is seeking to purge its school curriculum of any influence of the Muslim Brotherhood and dismiss employees who sympathise with the banned group, the education minister said.

The government will "fight extremist ideologies by reviewing school curricula and books to ensure they are free of the banned Muslim Brotherhood´s agenda", Ahmed bin Mohammed al-Issa said in a statement.

It also seeks to "ban books attributed to the Muslim Brotherhood from all schools and universities and remove all those who sympathise with the group", he added. The statement comes after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told CBS television in an interview Sunday that elements of the Muslim Brotherhood, designated as a "terror group" by the kingdom, had infiltrated Saudi schools.

The prince, who has vowed to return the country to "moderate Islam", has cut back the political role of hardline clerics in a historic reordering of the Saudi state. Many members of Egypt´s Muslim Brotherhood -- who advocate toppling rulers deemed unjust -- sought refuge in Saudi Arabia after being persecuted in the 1960s by then Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser.

The militants were widely employed in the education and public sectors, putting aside their proselytism and submitting to Saudi Arabia´s official Wahabi ideology that requires obedience to the ruler.