ANALYSIS: Question marks arise over Qatar’s ties with the Muslim Brotherhood

Many questions have risen recently regarding Qatar’s past and present support for the Muslim Brotherhood and its attempts to cleanse its image, despite the fact that Brotherhood leaders who fled Egypt have helped in forming armed operations and movements inside Egypt, receiving external support and military training.

Two of the most prominent armed movements were the Liwaa al-Thawra, “the Revolution Brigade,” and Hasm, which have claimed responsibility for carrying out a number of terrorist attacks targeting Egyptian officials, army and police positions.

The recent statements made by the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim Al-Thani, which Doha tried to refute by saying the statements were published by hackers on Qatar News Agency (QNA)’s website, contributed to raising, once again, the questions about Qatar and the reasons behind its support to the Muslim Brotherhood that is classified as a terrorist group in several Arab countries.

ANALYSIS: Hezbollah and Qatar – a story of forbidden love?

Sheikh Tamim asked in a previous event: “If we are serious about focusing our efforts on armed terrorist organizations, is it fair to consider political movements we disagree with as terrorists, even if they were not terrorist groups?”

Egyptian cleric Sheik Youssef el-Qaradawi, who resides in Doha, speaks to the crowd as he leads Friday prayers in Tahrir Square in Cairo in 2011. (File photo: AP)

It is worth mentioning that the Egyptian strategy to combat terrorism that was announced by President Abdelfattah el-Sisi during the Arab Islamic Summit in Riyadh, does not distinguish between terrorist organizations, whether it was ISIS or the pro-Qatar Muslim Brotherhood; it seeks to deprive all these groups of any financial and moral support or political cover.

Sisi asked many questions: “Where do they get their financial donations from? How do they get media exposure through outlets that have agreed to become propaganda means for these terrorist organizations?”

All of these positions raise many questions about the insistence of the Qatari Emir on the Brotherhood in his speeches, trying to enhance the image of the group that has been proven to be involved in extremist activities many times.