Egypt: activists raise issue of 'collusion with Qatar' detainees after Sisi's visit to Doha

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The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad, met Al-Sisi on his arrival at Hamad International Airport. It was the Egyptian leader's first official visit to Qatar in eight years.

Relations have been difficult between the two countries for nearly a decade after the 2013 military coup in Egypt and then the Gulf crisis and blockade of Qatar. A breakthrough in relations occurred after the Gulf reconciliation in early 2021, when Bin Hamad visited Egypt for the first time since the 2015 Arab Summit in Sharm El-Sheikh.

Egyptian journalist Osama Gawish pointed out that the regime in Cairo has tried a number of people on charges of colluding with Qatar. Life imprisonment and death sentences have been handed down, and detainees have been described as traitors.

"Either Al-Sisi is going to Qatar in order to 'collude' with it, in which case he too must be put on trial," said Gawish, "or if he considers Qatar to be a friendly country he should drop all charges against hundreds of unjustly detained prisoners, release them immediately, and apologise posthumously to the late President Mohamed Morsi for the 'collusion' charade."

However, according to Egyptian political researcher Ahmed Abd Rabbo, reconciliation between the two countries does not necessarily mean the cancellation of the "collusion with Qatar" charges. This, he suggested, will only be possible in the event of an "Egyptian-Egyptian reconciliation".

Abd Rabbo told Egypt's Mekameleen TV that such issues do not affect relations between countries. "Unless, for example, Qatar requested the cancellation of the procedures for the case, but Qatar has not stipulated that."

Meanwhile, journalist and writer Turki Al-Shalhoub noted that, "While innocent people in Egypt are being tried for colluding with Qatar, Al-Sisi has visited Qatar and met with Tamim, who they were supposedly colluding with. This is [begging for] 'rice' money at its finest."

The Cairo Criminal Court issued death sentences, life imprisonment and fines on 19 June 2016 among the eleven defendants in the "collusion with Qatar" case.

Source: Middle East Monitor under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0