Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Badr Abdel Aaty said Qatari ambassador to Cairo Saif Moqadam Al-Boenain has been summoned to the Foreign Ministry on Saturday for meeting with Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab Affairs Nasser Kamel to express objection against the Qatari Foreign Ministry statement, which expressed concern over growing number of victims as a result of crackdown against protests.
A Qatari Foreign Ministry statement published early on Saturday by the official news Agency QNA, said that what happened and is happening is Egypt shows that confrontations, security and military solutions do not lead to stability.
It added that the only solution is dialogue between the society’s constituents without exclusion, considering that “the decision to designate popular political movements as terrorist organizations, and labeling peaceful demonstrations as terrorism, did not succeed in stopping the peaceful protests. It was only a prelude to a shoot-to-kill policy on demonstrators.”
Qatar was a firm supporter of Egypt's former Islamist President Mohamed Morsy and ties with Cairo have deteriorated since the army deposed him in July following mass protests against his year-long rule.
Egypt accuses Qatar and its Doha-based Al Jazeera television channel of backing the Muslim Brotherhood, which it declared a terrorist organization on 25 December. Thousands of its members have been arrested.
Last week, Egypt's general prosecutor detained several journalists for 15 days for broadcasting graphics on Al Jazeera, alleging that they damaged Egypt's reputation.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm and Reuters
