28-03-2024 02:32 PM Jerusalem Timing

Fall of Egypt’s Mohammad Mursi Blow to Qatar

Fall of Egypt’s Mohammad Mursi Blow to Qatar

The British Financial Times posted an article Thursday explaining the effect of President Mohammad Mursi’s ouster on the country’s foreign policy, considering that Mursi’s offset of Egypt’s presidency a blow to Qatar.

Financial TimesThe British Financial Times posted an article Thursday explaining the effect of President Mohammad Mursi's ouster on the country's foreign policy, considering that Mursi's offset of Egypt's presidency a blow to Qatar, which bet on the Muslim Brotherhood all over the last year.

"Few predicted that challenge would come within a week as Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood-led government fell, and the credibility of Qatar’s activist foreign policy took a major blow," it said.

The daily also revealed that Qatar has poured $8bn of financial support into Egypt in post-Mubarak era, and has been the main Gulf backer of Mursi’s government.

"Qatar's support for post-Mubarak Egypt has run to the heart of Doha’s backing of Islamist groups since the revolutions of the Arab uprising swept across north Africa," the FT article read.

"Its legacy will be associated with that of the leader whose presidency was doomed on Wednesday," it added.

The author stated in his article that the new emir of Qatar hinted at his tendency toward moderation in foreign policy, but analysts believe that any change in Qatar's foreign policy must be gradual.

"While Sheikh Tamim, the new emir, is hinting at a moderation of Qatar’s adventurist foreign policy, analysts say any change will be gradual as Doha’s position is so deeply set."

Unlike Qatar, the article said, the other Arab states in the Gulf such as the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, are uncomfortable with the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, and are now ready to pump funds to help any interim administration keep the Egyptian economy afloat.

Citing an economist, the auther noted that Qatar got it wrong in Libya, then in Syria, and now billions of dollars could go down the pan in Egypt.

“That money was meant to buy political advantage, but they backed the wrong horse,” the expert said.