Source: Qatari authorities ask 100 Egyptian nationals affiliated to Muslim Brotherhood, Jama’a al-Islamiya, Salafist Front to leave country

About 100 Egyptian nationals living in Qatar have been asked by Doha authorities to leave the country within a few weeks time, according to an Egyptian opposition figure based abroad who spoke to Mada Masr on condition of anonymity. 

The move by Qatar comes after Egypt requested that the figures — all of whom are affiliated with Islamist groups — be delivered to Egyptian authorities, said the source.

The list of names includes Muslim Brotherhood leader and former head of the group’s association for members abroad Mohamed Abdel Wahab, as well as a number of figures belonging to the  Jama'a al-Islamiya and to the Salafist Front, said the source, who currently resides in a European country.

Qatar has given the Egyptian nationals notice to leave the country amid a diplomatic rapprochement between Doha and Cairo that has blossomed over the past year. 

Relations between the two countries were frosty for almost a decade following the 2013 toppling of Muslim Brotherhood President Mohamed Morsi, with Egypt joining a bloc of Gulf countries in a blockade that left Doha out in the cold from 2017 to 2021. 

But a thaw beginning last year saw President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi pay in September a first visit to the country since assuming office. Helping bridge the distance between Doha and Cairo are the increasingly strained relations between the current Egyptian administration and its long-standing Gulf backers in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, as well as a number of economic investment opportunities, with potential for Egypt’s need for foreign direct investment to soothe its distressed balance of payments to align with Qatari interest in a number of key strategic economic sectors, including agriculture and telecommunications. 

Security cooperation has also expanded under the banner of rapprochement. According to the source, Qatari authorities requested 250 Egyptian nationals, including Islamist opposition figure Abdallah al-Sherif, who ran a series of satirical programs on YouTube and Al Jazeera, to leave the country when diplomatic ties were first being established in 2022. 

Egypt’s capacity to reach opposition figures abroad has also extended as of late to Turkey, home to a large number of Egyptian nationals with affiliations to Islamist movements, who were welcomed by Ankara after Sisi’s accession to power.

With Cairo and Ankara establishing closer ties in 2021, the Turkish government instructed opposition media channels broadcasting from Turkish soil to stop criticizing Sisi and his government.

Anchor Hossam Ghamry has been detained by Turkish authorities on more than one occasion, most recently in November, amid calls for anti-government protests in Egypt on November 11. 

Cairo-Ankara rapprochement was accelerated by Doha’s mediation and financial promises at the close of last year, when the three heads of state met on the sidelines of the FIFA World Cup that Qatar hosted last year. 

Opposition groups now anticipate that similar pressure could target its affiliates in Turkey, with a first official meeting between Sisi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan anticipated in the wake of Erdogan’s reelection.