Qatar-based Muslim Brotherhood figures have assured that their departure from the kingdom came upon agreement with Qatari authorities without pressure, after reports claimed that the Islamist figures, supporting toppled President Mohamed Morsy, were asked to leave the country.
Brotherhood figure Gamal Abdel Sattar, former deputy Religious Endowments Ministry, denied news over being expelled from Qatar or that they were pressured to leave Doha. He explained that the departure comes within redistribution around the world to face the "coup."
Abdel Sattar thanked Qatar for its leading stances saying it was not affected by pressures.
Spokesperson of the dissolved Freedom and Justice Party Hamza Zoubaa said, “We agreed with the Qatari government to leave the country. We would like to thank it for the support since the start of revolution on 25 January. The group did not lose a regional ally. Other friends will host the group leaders.”
In remarks, Zoubaa said that the group will carry out political reviews of its strategic plans after committing big mistakes over the past period of time. Political alliances within the Arab region are changing, he said, pointing to what he called was the "US-led war against Islam."
Qatar, the biggest supporter of Morsy’s regime, provided Egypt with financial aid that reached up to US$8 billion upon Morsy's election. The Qatari government later rejected Morsy's ouster by Abdel Fattah al-Sisi upon mass protests demanding his removal.
In response, Egypt closed the offices of Al Jazeera for opposing authorities and disseminating what the Egyptian government accused them of biased reporting favoring the Muslim Brotherhood, which Morsy belonged to. The channel is effectively banned in Egypt and multiple Al Jazeera reporters are now in jail, accused of "false reporting" and "spreading chaos."
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
