U.A.E. Summons Qatari Envoy Over Muslim Scholar’s Sermon

The United Arab Emirates has summoned the Qatari ambassador and issued a letter of protest in response to criticism by Doha-based cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi.

“The Emirates goes against every Islamic government and punishes its members and puts them in prison,” Qaradawi said in a Friday sermon last month. Egyptian-born Qaradawi, who holds a diplomatic passport and has close ties with Qatari royals, has expressed support for the Muslim Brotherhood.

“We waited for the government to reject his comments and to provide an explanation,” yet nothing was forthcoming, Anwar Gargash, the U.A.E. minister for foreign affairs, said in a statement on state-run news agency WAM.

The U.A.E. sentenced 30 people to jail last month for setting up a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in the country. Last year it sentenced 69 Islamists for threatening the nation’s sovereignty as part of its crackdown on groups that it says have been emboldened by the so-called Arab Spring.

“The spat has to do with Qatar’s continued support for the Muslim Brotherhood in the region,” Theodore Karasik, director of research at the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis in Dubai, said by phone.

Qatar’s foreign minister Khalid bin Mohammad Al Attiyah said yesterday in a televised interview that al-Qaradawi’s comments don’t represent the country’s official foreign policy, which is distributed through the official channels of the state, the Qatar News Agency reported yesterday.

In Egypt, Qatar was a prime supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, extending about $8 billion in Mohamed Morsi’s year in power. Since the army stripped the Brotherhood’s Mursi of the presidency last year, the U.A.E. has provided financial and political support to Egypt.

Source : bloomberg