Al-Saraya Media Center labeled terrorist by Arab Quartet

CAIRO – 25 July 2017: Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain announced in a joint statement late Monday that they have included Libya’s Al-Saraya Media Center among the nine organizations newly added to their terrorism watch list.

The Arab quartet added three Yemeni and six Libyan associations to their terrorist list, stressing that "these new measures come within the framework of monitoring the counter terrorism approach that the four Arab nations determined."

Al-Saraya Media Center is the media wing of the Benghazi Revolutionaries Shura Council. The Benghazi Revolutionaries Shura Council uses al-Saraya Media Center to publicize operations of the group and promote its extremist agenda.

The Arab quartet’s statement added that the continuous and ongoing “violations” of the Authorities in Doha of Qatar’s commitments and obligations enshrined in agreements to which it is a signatory, have necessitated The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Arab Republic of Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and the Kingdom of Bahrain to act to update their respective lists of designated terrorist organizations and individuals.

Qatar’s relations with several Arab states have been strained since May 24 over a leaked statement attributed to Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad, criticizing Gulf foreign policy with Iran, describing it as “unwise”.

Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad’s recent remarks in which he attacked Egypt, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) prompted the major Arab powers to adopt urgent and strict measures towards Doha.

The Qatari crisis was escalated when Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and the UAE, along with Yemen and Libya announced a coordinated diplomatic break with Qatar, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. They also closed their airspace and seaports for Qatari transportation.