Qatar's interference in Egypt's internal affairs

Without a doubt Qatar has become a dynamic player in the Arab world. Maintaining warm relations with important actors such as Russia, Europe and even Iran it has succeeded in mediating in Arab conflicts (Lebanon, Sudan, Yemen and Palestine) and making its voice heard.

Even more, the Arab Spring has given Qatar a chance to build on the new forces, the Islamist movements and to establish its presence in the region. Once and again, the concerns expressed by the West about Qatar’s close relations with these actors have not discouraged it from offering financial and military support to Islamic groups in Libya, Mali, Syria and elsewhere.

Egypt’s rising geopolitical value has not gone unnoticed by Qatar. Truthfully, under Mubarak’s leadership the two states relations had reached their nadir. However, the former Islamist president Mohammed Morsi and the “Muslim Brotherhood” reignited cooperation. Noteworthy is the fact that Qatar took a different stance than Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states that opposed the “Muslim Brotherhood” rise. Contrary, it has cooperated with it in various instances such as the infiltration of Hamas and of course Egypt.

In the case of Egypt, Qatar proved to be a strong supporter of Morsi and the “Muslim Brotherhood” granting $ 5 billion including a $1 billion grant and $ 4 billion deposits at the central bank. It had also promised $18 billion investment over 5 years. Most importantly, Egypt- Qatar joined projects included the creation of a leading investment bank to cover the MENA region and the installation of regasification units for the importation of LNG. In case these projects come through they will shape the future development of northern Africa.   

Thus, after the fall of Morsi, even though Qatar stresses its alliance to Egypt rather than the “Muslim Brotherhood” the diplomatic relations have been deteriorating. In April, Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani promised to send five tankers of LNG for free to Egypt to supplement domestic demand and foreign obligations. However, a source in Egyptian petroleum ministry has revealed to the Press that communication between the ministry and Qatar has recently stopped and the ministry is now considering United Arab Emirates (UAE) stepping in to cover Egyptian shortfalls.

Moreover, Qatar is now expressing its concerns about the rising number of the victims during the protests and criticized the decision of designating popular political movements as terrorist organizations. Late December Egypt declared “Muslim Brotherhood” a terrorist group. Egypt accused the Qatari Al-Jazeera Channel of biased coverage favouring the Muslim Brotherhood and closed the Al-Jazeera bureau in Cairo. Last week Egypt summoned Qatar’s ambassador to express concerns about Qatar’s interference to Qatar’s internal affairs.

Currently, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Bahrain support the Egyptian regime. What they do understand is that Egypt’s stability reflects and influences the stability of the whole region. It is in Qatar’s best interest the normalization of its relations with a stable Egypt, unless Qatar perceives its interest in terms of “creative chaos”.

By Elpiniki Karakosta