Muslim Brotherhood leaders met Friday evening to to discuss the legal steps they should take in response to disparaging comments made by an Emirati official, in the latest chapter of a diplomatic spat between the group and the United Arab Emirates.
Relations tensed after Police Chief Dahi Khalfan wrote "The Muslim Brotherhood is not of Islam" on Twitter.
Jamal Khalfan bin Huwaireb, cultural adviser to the governor of Dubai, left Cairo Friday morning after a one-day visit during which he discussed the Dubai police chief's controversial statements with Egyptian officials, state-run al-Ahram newspaper reported.
Dubai Police Chief Dahi Khalfan reportedly published comments on Twitter criticizing President-elect Mohamed Morsy.
“[Morsy] will come crawling to the Gulf, and we will not receive him on a red carpet. He will kiss the hands of the custodian of the two holy mosques as [Muslim Brotherhood founder] Hassan al-Banna did with King Abdel Aziz,” Khalfan wrote.
Al-Ahram said that Huwaireb held the meetings to contain the situation and stressed the depth of the relationship between Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.
The Alliance of Egyptian Revolutionaries called on the United Arab Emirates to officially apologize to Egypt for Khalfan's statement.
Alliance spokesperson Amer al-Wakil demanded Khalfan’s dismissal and punishment in a statement Friday, saying he is a senior official whose words will have adversely affect the strong ties between the UAE and Egypt.
Wakil has also called on Morsy to announce his position on the supplement to the Constitutional Declaration. The president-elect had earlier said he rejected the document, but then agreed to take the oath of office before the Supreme Constitutional Court, as stipulated in the declaration supplement.
Wakil said that when Morsy becomes president he has to cancel the document, because as the sole legitimate representative of the people, it is no longer acceptable for him to merely “reject” or “condemn.”
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-youm
