Egypt summons Qatari ambassador in Cairo
Move comes after Doha expressed concerns over number of deaths in demonstrations supporting ousted president Mohammed Morsi
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Egypt’s Foreign Ministry on Saturday summoned the Qatari ambassador in Cairo to “reject” Qatar’s recent statement about Egypt’s internal strife.
The decision follows a statement by the Qatari Foreign Ministry a day earlier expressing concerns about the increasing number of people killed at demonstrations in support of the ousted Islamist president.
It also denounced the latest government decision designating the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization, saying “turning demonstrating into a terrorist action is useless in stopping the peaceful protests — instead it is a prelude to enacting a shoot-to-kill policy against the protesters.”
Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Badr Abdelatty said that the step is “unusual” when it comes to Arab countries.
He added: “Egypt reiterates once again that it will not permit to any foreign party to interfere in its internal affairs under any pretext … and holds any country or foreign party responsible of the consequences.”
Qatar was the main backer of the country’s Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, ousted in a popularly-backed coup in July.
In November, Egypt downgraded diplomatic relations with Turkey and expelled its ambassador from Cairo, after the interim-government vehemently protested remarks by Turkish leaders criticizing Morsi’s ouster. Turkey reciprocated by declaring the Egyptian ambassador “persona non grata” and downgrading relations with Egypt to the same level.
Turkey’s Islamic-rooted ruling party strongly backed Morsi — a Brotherhood leader.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press.
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