Reply #5: more from the article

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"Any contact Miles had with the Muslim Brotherhood was not official policy," insists retired CIA officer Raymond Close, a colleague of Copeland in the Middle East. "It was strictly solo work on his part. There were an awful lot of things that Miles did that were totally off the board."

Whether Copeland's efforts were "off the board" or otherwise, the Muslim Brotherhood was certainly a force to be reckoned with. Since its inception in 1928, the Society of the Muslim Brothers sought to restore Islamic law and values in the face of growing Western influence. Launched as a social welfare association, it became a focal point of resistance to British colonial rule. The Special Order Group, a secret paramilitary wing set up by the Brotherhood, carried out guerrilla raids in Egypt during the 1940's, bombing British installations and killing British soldiers and civilians. By the time Brotherhood founder Hassan al-Banna was assassinated in 1949, the fast-growing Ikhwan, with its distinctive green flag crossed with white swords and a red Koran, had a half million Egyptian members and affiliates in several other countries.

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American intelligence formed a three-way tryst with the Saudis and the Muslim Brothers, according to Robert Baer, the former case officer in the CIA's Directorate of Operations. With the CIA's implicit approval, the Saudi royals channeled funds to the Brothers who joined a US-backed, anti-Nasser insurgency in Yemen in 1962. "Like any other truly effective covert action, this one was strictly off the books," explains Baer. "There was no CIA funding, no memorandum of notification to Congress. Not a penny came out of the Treasury to fund it. All the White House had to do was give a wink and a nod to countries harboring the Muslim Brothers."

Yemen was just a warm up. To give a boost to Islamic proselytizing the Saudis with CIA encouragement, founded the Muslim World League in 1962. Underwritten initially by several donors including the Saudi-based Aramco oil consortium (then a CIA collaboration, the League established a formidable international presence with representatives in 120 countries. Members of the Muslim Brotherhood occupied key staff positions at the League while it disseminated anti-communist religious propaganda and sponsored the construction of mosques and Islamic center's around the world.