Historical court decision revoking demolition order for Muslim Brotherhood’s charity hospital.

A historical decision made in court in a hearing led by Chancellor Mamdouh Rady of the knocking down of a new hospital built by the Muslim Brotherhood to serve poor residents has been annulled.

Government opponents say the former decision to tear down the hospital, which the Brotherhood says has cost about 40 million Egyptian pounds ($7.30 million) so far, was politically motivated by Cairo’s governor.

Construction workers had been hacking away since Monday with heavy duty compressors at the walls of the Islamic Medical Association’s Central Charity Hospital, witnesses said

“These demolitions are being carried out on buildings higher than the expected range, raising safety concerns,” a Cairo governorate spokesman defended, claiming that the hospital had been built on more land than a permit allowed.

The Islamic Medical Association, a Brotherhood affiliate behind the project, and Cairo’s Nasr City district, where the building is located, has been locked in a row over permits.

The association says it began building in 2001 after a court ordered the district to grant a revised permit, offering more space and allowing it to go up higher. The annulment has come as a welcome surprise to all.