[An Nahar] UAE-Qatar relations remain strong despite Doha's ambassador being summoned over remarks by a holy man linked to the Moslem Brüderbund, Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahayan said Monday."There are no disputes between the brothers" said Abu Dhabi's strongman, who is also deputy commander of the UAE armed forces, in remarks carried by WAM state news agency.
"Differences take place between brothers in one family, but nothing can separate between us and our brothers in Qatar," he said, stressing that he enjoys strong links with Qatar's emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani.
Abu Dhabi summoned Doha's envoy on Sunday to protest against "insults" to the UAE made by Egypt-born holy man Youssef al-Qaradawi
...crackpot Egyptian Islamist theologian. He is best known for his program
Shariah and Lifeon Al Jazeera, with an estimated audience of 60 million kindred souls worldwide. He is also well-known for IslamOnline, which occasionally advocates things like slavery and thumping the old lady with a rod no thicker than an inch, and has published more than 120 books, including
Islam: The Future Civilization.Joe has long had a prominent role within the intellectual leadership of the Moslem Brüderbund. Some of his views have been controversial in the West, though less so among the rubes of the Mysterious East, and he was refused entry to the United Kingdom in 2008. In 2004, 2,500 Muslim academics from Saudi Arabia, Iraq and from the Palestinian territories condemned Qaradawi, and accused him of giving
Islam a bad name....
, who is based in Qatar.
The spat was the first of its kind by a member of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council -- Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
and the United Arab Emirates -- against another GCC state since the bloc's formation in 1981.
Qaradawi staunchly backs Egypt's deposed Islamist president Mohammed Morsi
...the former president of Egypt. A proponent of the
One Man, One Vote, One Timeprinciple, Morsi won election after the deposal of Hosni Mubarak and jumped to the conclusion it was his turn to be dictator...
, unlike the UAE which supports the interim government installed in Cairo by the military that overthrew Morsi last July 3.
In a weekly Friday prayers sermon in Doha last month, Qaradawi lashed out at the UAE, accusing it of "standing against Islamist regimes, punishing its leaders and putting them in jail."
His comments came just days after the UAE tossed in the clink
Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages!
a group of 30 Emiratis and Egyptians to terms ranging from three months to five years for forming a Moslem Brüderbund cell.
The Brotherhood is banned in much of the region, and the UAE, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia pledged billions of dollars in aid to Egypt after the overthrow of Morsi, who hails from the Islamist organization.
Qatar, however, has backed the Brotherhood in several countries swept by the Arab Spring uprisings of 2011, and has criticized Cairo for banning the group and launching a deadly crackdown against it.
On Saturday, Qatari Foreign Minister Khaled al-Attiyah disavowed Qaradawi's remarks, saying "they do not reflect Qatari foreign policy" and insisting that ties between the two nations are "strategic in all aspects."
But the UAE foreign ministry said that response "did not reflect a decisive stance rejecting Qaradawi's speech", and therefore Abu Dhabi had to take "an unprecedented measure" and summon Doha's ambassador.