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CAIRO, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Egyptian Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi has proposed the legal dissolution of the Muslim Brotherhood and the government is studying the idea, a government spokesman said.
According to the health ministry, 173 people died on Friday in violence that erupted when security forces cracked down on Islamists protesting against the army's removal of Muslim Brotherhood President Mohamed Mursi last month.
Beblawi had made the proposal to the minister of social affairs - the ministry responsible for licensing non-governmental organisations, spokesman Sherif Shawky said. "It is being studied currently," he said.
The Brotherhood was dissolved by Egypt's military rulers in 1954, but registered itself as a non-governmental organisation in March in a response to a court case brought by opponents of the group who were contesting its legality.
The Brotherhood, founded in 1928, also has a legally registered political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party, which was set up in 2011 after the uprising that led to the downfall of veteran autocrat Hosni Mubarak.
"Reconciliation is there for those who hands are not sullied with blood," Shawky said. (Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Louise Ireland and David Stamp)
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