RT Arabic's bias towards Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood unveiled

CAIRO – 15 July 2019: Although the Russian Supreme Court declared the Muslim Brotherhood group as terrorist in 2006, state-funded RT (formerly Russia Today) Arabic has been highlighting the Muslim Brotherhood statements, and obtaining information from sources hostile to the Egyptian state.

On Friday, the Kuwaiti security forces announced capturing eight Egyptian nationals, who are facing sentences of up to 15 years in prison for joining a terrorist cell and plotting terrorist attacks in Egypt, according to a statement from the Kuwaiti Interior Ministry.



The cell is believed to be linked to Muslim Brotherhood group. RT Arabic has republished a statement by the Muslim Brotherhood who has defended their arrested members, while claiming that the group never sought to destabilize Kuwait, and calling on the Kuwaiti authorities not to extradite the arrestees to Egypt.

RT Arabic has also published a statement regarding internal affairs of the Muslim Brotherhood group, which has been designated by the Egyptian authorities as a terrorist group since 2013. The statement claimed that the group has changed some of its priorities based on internal review.



The Russian news website has been obviously active in publishing the Muslim Brotherhood statements, including a statement that it copied from the group's Facebook website.

Moreover, RT Arabic has published some news about an Iranian oil tanker that was allegedly stopped in Egypt's Suez Canal. RT Arabic referenced to the pro-Muslim Brotherhood Al-Araby Al-Jadeed (The New Arab) media outlet, while citing Egyptian sources as saying. A high-level official in the Suez Canal Authority later denied the news.



The New Arab was founded by Palestinian Azmi Bishara, a former Knesset member, and an alleged adviser to the Qatari emir. Bishara has denied in 2017 being an adviser to the emir in an interview with the London-based Al-Araby TV network.

Russia Today has also referenced to rights groups and international organizations known for publishing reports that are hostile to the Egyptian regime, and are believed to be politicized and funded by hostile governments, including the Amnesty International.



The reason behind the Russian news website's recent bias toward the Muslim Brotherhood group against the Egyptian state has been unknown so far. However, the possibility that it expresses the Russian government's opinion about the updates in Egypt is still ruled out.