Spanish academic reveals Qatari-Muslim Brotherhood links

CAIRO – 1 July 2017: An Arab and Islamic Studies professor at the University of Alicante in Spain revealed that Qatar aimed to prove it is the most powerful nation in the region with the ability to exercise authority over other Arab states in an article published in the Spanish blog Proximo Oriente.

Professor Ignacio Alvarez-Ossorio Alvarino Ph.D, mentioned in his June 21 article on the current Qatari diplomatic crisis that since the eruption of the Arab Spring in 2011, the Gulf state has chosen an interventionist policy favoring an alliance with the Muslim Brotherhood.

“Almost overnight Qatar became the principle beneficiary of the fall of former Egyptian President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak for aspiring to be stronger than Egypt,” Alvarino added.

Alvarino said that relations between Qatar and the Brotherhood are not necessarily new news, but their true intent became clear when Qatar’s media tool Al-Jazeera was deployed to attack the Egyptian regime and broadcast reports in favor of the outlawed Islamist group.

This has raised inquiries on the type of the relationship between the Gulf state and the Brotherhood and how Qatar would benefit from Brotherhood rule. Alvarino said that Qatar played a “major role in the chaos” that has taken place in Egypt since January 2011.

Commenting on the Syrian civil war, Alvarino explained that Qatar has been “a loyal ally to the Muslim Brotherhood” and a financial benefactor which made it possible for the Gulf nation to control the main opposition groups in the war receiving “generous” Qatari funds. Its beneficiaries include the terrorist groups Ahrar Al-Sham, Al-Nusra Front and Al-Qaeda.

“The probability of the fall of Bashar Al-Assad provides an opportunity for executing a pipeline exporting gas to Europe at competitive prices,” Alvarino said.