Saudi Arabia on Friday listed the 86-year-old Brotherhood along with several other groups as terrorist organizations. According to the new law, those who join or back the groups could face five to 30 years in jail.

The UAE said in a Saturday statement that it would cooperate with Riyadh against the Brotherhood “through liquidating all forms of material and moral support.”

The Saudi move, which was slammed by the Muslim Brotherhood, came after Egypt’s military-backed interim government decided to label the group a terrorist organization last December after the ouster of the country's Brotherhood-backed president, Mohamed Morsi, in July.

Egypt has accused the Muslim Brotherhood of being responsible for a deadly bomb attack on a police headquarters building in the Delta Nile city of Mansoura in December 2013, which left at least 15 people dead. The group has condemned the attack and denied involvement in the incident.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has openly supported Egypt’s military-backed authorities following Morsi’s fall.

Last week, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain withdrew their ambassadors from Qatar in a move which is believed to be due to Doha’s support for the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.

Qatar provided Egypt with an economic cushion of USD7.5 billion when Morsi was president.

The Emirates has imprisoned dozens of people allegedly linked to Brotherhood-affiliated groups on state security charges over the past year as it accuses the groups of seeking to topple its Western-backed ruling system.

On July 3, 2013, the Egyptian army ousted Morsi, naming head of the Supreme Constitutional Court, Adly Mahmoud Mansour, as the interim president.

Following Morsi’s ouster, the army-backed government launched a deadly crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood and its supporters.

SHI/SHI