Lebanon arrests late Muslim Brotherhood leader’s son wanted by Egypt: source

Judicial official, speaking anonymously, says Beirut will ask for file on Abdul Rahman al-Qaradawi before deciding on extradition; Cairo convicted him in absentia for terrorism

Screen capture from video of Abdul Rahman al-Qaradawi, son of late spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, as he walks in the Umayyad mosque, Damascus, Syria, December 2024. (X. Used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
Screen capture from video of Abdul Rahman al-Qaradawi, son of late spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, as he walks in the Umayyad mosque, Damascus, Syria, December 2024. (X. Used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Lebanese authorities have arrested Abdul Rahman al-Qaradawi, an Egyptian opposition activist wanted by Cairo and son of the late spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, a Lebanese judicial official told AFP on Sunday.

Qaradawi, also a poet, was detained on Saturday as he arrived from Syria at the Masnaa border crossing due to an Egyptian arrest warrant, the official said.

The warrant was “based on an Egyptian judiciary ruling” sentencing Qaradawi in absentia to five years’ jail on charges of “opposing the state and inciting terrorism,” the official added.

His father was prominent Sunni scholar Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, which is outlawed in Egypt.

The late scholar was imprisoned several times in Egypt over his links to the Muslim Brotherhood. He died in 2022, after decades in exile in Qatar.

Lebanese authorities “will ask the Egyptian authorities” to transfer Abdul Rahman al-Qaradawi’s file for examination, the judicial official said, requesting anonymity, as they were not authorized to speak to the media.

The judiciary will make a recommendation on whether “the conditions are met for him to be extradited” and the matter will be referred to the Lebanese government, which must make the final decision, the official added.

Abdul Rahman Yusuf al-Qaradawi, son of Islamic scholar Yusuf al-Qaradawi, speaks during a demonstration to denounce the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, outside the Saudi Arabian consulate headquarters in Istanbul on October 5, 2018. (OZAN KOSE / AFP / File)

Qaradawi was a political organizer against the government of longtime Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak, who was toppled in 2011 in the Arab Spring uprising.

He later became a vocal opponent of current Egyptian leader Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, who in 2013 overthrew elected president Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood.

A family friend told AFP that Qaradawi holds Turkish citizenship and was returning from a visit to Syria, where rebels led by Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham toppled longtime Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad on December 8.

Assad’s ousting came more than 13 years after war broke out in Syria with the brutal repression of anti-government protests in 2011.

Qaradawi had posted a video online taken at Damascus’s Umayyad mosque, celebrating Assad’s fall, expressing hope for “victory” in other Arab Spring countries including Egypt, and warning Syrians of “malicious regimes” in “the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt,” who he described as “Zionist-affiliated states.”

The video has circulated widely, including on Egyptian media, where local outlets have described it as “insulting.”

Some commentators close to Sissi’s government have demanded Qaradawi be handed over to Egyptian authorities.

Cairo blacklisted the Muslim Brotherhood as a “terrorist” organization in 2013, and has since jailed thousands of its members and supporters and executed dozens.

Yusuf al-Qaradawi’s daughter Ola was detained in Egypt for four and a half years over her links to the organization. She was released in 2021.

Rights groups say Egyptian authorities have detained tens of thousands of people as political prisoners.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

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