Arab League solves a clash between UAE and Muslim Brotherhood

The Arab League chief, Nabil al-Araby, has said comments made by a Muslim Brotherhood spokesperson in Egypt against the United Arab Emirates were “hostile,” in a statement issued by his office on Monday.

The Brotherhood spokesman, Mahmoud Ghozlan, had threatened action against the UAE if the Gulf country would attempt to capture and prosecute prominent Muslim scholar Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi.

The Sheikh had sparked a heated row between the UAE and his Brotherhood supporters when he criticized the Gulf state for reportedly revoking the visas of Syrians who protested against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad outside of the Syrian consulate in Dubai.

Qaradawi’s comments provoked a heated response from the Dubai police chief, Dhahi Khalfan, who threatened to arrest the Shiekh.

“We are going to issue an arrest warrant against Sheikh Qaradawi” Khalfan wrote on his Twitter account earlier this week.

“If he insults the UAE will we leave him? …Whoever insults the state or the government of the UAE, I will pursue him,” the police chief added.

In response to the Muslim Brotherhood’s retaliated threat of action against the UAE, Egyptian media cited Araby as saying on Monday: “I call on all political forces to resort to wisdom and prudence and to avoid hostile attitudes and irresponsible statements that can be detrimental to relations between Arab countries, and that cause dissension and division.” 

The Arab League chief added: “We are about to prepare for the coming Arab summit in Baghdad, which we hope would restore the spirit of Arab solidarity and unify Arab positions on the challenges and major variables facing the region.”

Meanwhile, Egyptian state-run news agency MENA quoted anonymous Egyptian diplomatic sources as saying that there is no problem between Egypt and the UAE, and that the Brotherhood spokesman’s comments reflect the opinion of his group and not the Egyptian government.