Alexandria Court of Urgent Matters headed by Counselor Mahmoud Saeed has decided to oversee on January 2 the case filed by Tarek Mahmoud, a lawyer, to declare Qatar as a state sponsor of terrorism.
Mahmoud claimed in his lawsuit that Qatar has consistently interfered in Egypt’s internal affairs and provided logistical and financial support to the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) after June 30, 2013, as well as providing a safe haven for its leaders.
It is noteworthy that the Egyptian military led by Abdel Fattah al-Sisi launched a military coup in 2013 against Egypt’s first democratically elected President Mohamed Morsi, who was also a member of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Since then the Egyptian military regime has targeted the Muslim Brotherhood members and sent them to prison.
Mahmoud also referred to the “Qatar espionage case” which was filed against President Mohamed Morsi, who was later acquitted by the court.
He also added that Qatar with direct orders from Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad has devoted its media to spread its “toxins” among the Egyptian people, disseminate false news, incite sectarian strife, and distort Egypt’s image in the international forums.
He also accused Qatar of fabricating movies that seek to topple the state institutions and weaken the spirit of the Egyptian people.
It is noteworthy that Al-Jazeera, a Qatari-owned news TV channel, has recently released a documentary movie entitled “Conscripts”, telling the story of the Egyptian youth preparing to serve out their compulsory military service.
The movie reportedly featured the conscripts giving their testimonies about the treatment they received during their military service, and the commercial and industrial projects owned by the military.
In response, the Egyptian regime considered the documentary movie “an insult to the armed forces” that has exceeded all the limits.
Tarek Mahmoud also claimed that Qatar is involved in supporting the extreme groups worldwide and threatens the international peace and security.
He also accused Qatar of supporting the deadly massacre at St. Peter’s Church killing 25 people and injuring almost 49 others last Sunday.
The ministry of interior issued a statement after the church attack confirming that the defendants in bombing the church have traveled to Qatar that provided them with financial and logistical support in order to harm Egypt’s national security and create divisions in society.
Qatar slams Egypt’s accusation about the attack
For its part, the Qatari Foreign Ministry declared that the claims by the Egyptian authorities were aimed at “covering up failures by authorities in Egypt”.
Ministry Spokesman Ahmed al-Rumeihi said in a statement carried released by Qatar’s official news agency that the allegations served to “strain relations between the brotherly peoples” of Egypt and Qatar.
Al-Rumeihi also said that Kassam had visited Qatar in late 2015, “in accordance with legal regulations applied in Qatar, as do hundreds of thousands of people who enter Qatar for business or tourism”.
Kassam had left the Gulf country in February of this year, according to his words.
Al-Rumeihi said reiterating his country’s rejection of terrorism that “The Qatari authorities did not receive any request from the Egyptian security authorities or Arab or international police to deny [Kassam] entry into Qatar or arrest him.”
He said, “Qatar does not tolerate any attempt to harm the security of the brotherly Egyptian people.”
The Egyptian-Qatari relations have soared since the military coup as the Egyptian authorities accused Doha of harboring members of the Muslim Brotherhood.
ISIS claims responsibility for the attack
The Islamic State (IS) -Daesh- claimed on Tuesday, December 12, 2016, responsibility for the bombing of a church attached to the Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Cairo on Sunday, killing 25 people and was the deadliest attack targeting the Christian minority for years.
In a statement attributed to Daesh, the militant group said the bomber had killed and injured 80 people, vowing “to continue war against apostates.” The Egyptian government had earlier released footage showing images said to be that of the alleged suicide attacker.
The pro-IS Amaq news agency said in a statement on Tuesday that a suicide bomber “of the Islamic State carried out the attack using an explosive belt”, identifying him as Abu Abdallah Al Masri.
The Islamic State vowed in its statement to escalate its “war on polytheism”. The threat suggested that the group, which has been battling the Egyptian military in the Sinai Peninsula for years, planned to intensify its operations in Egypt’s biggest cities. “All the infidels and the apostates in Egypt and everywhere should know that our fight against polytheism is going on,” the IS statement said.
However, the name mentioned in the IS statement is different from the one declared by Egyptian authorities when Al-Sisi announced on Monday that a young man called Mahmoud Mohamed Shafik Mostafa was the perpetrator.
