UAE crown prince urges Egyptian journalists to stop Qatar attacks

The crown prince of Abu Dhabi has, it is claimed, urged Egyptian journalists to stop their attacks on Qatar. Shaikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan is said to have told journalists visiting the UAE that he is “seeking to change” Qatar’s position towards the coup in Egypt.

The claim has been made by the Editor-in-Chief of the Al-Bawaba News website, Abdulrahim Ali, who attended a meeting between the prince and the Egyptian delegation. According to Ali, the prince said that the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad, had “assured” him that he was “concerned about Egypt, the army and the Egyptian people”.

Al-Nahyan is said to be “confident” that the government in Doha will change its position on the events in Egypt since the coup, which is why he is asking the journalists to stop their anti-Qatar campaign.

The UAE owns a large share of the Egyptian media, including the CBC network and Al-Watan newspaper. It also has stakes in or full ownership of other Egyptian newspapers and news sites.

Many official and popular Egyptian delegations are flocking to the UAE, the government of which is sending private jets to bring them to Abu Dhabi and Dubai as a part of an extensive public relations campaign to improve its image in Egypt. There has been a lot of public anger in Egypt because of the UAE’s involvement in the overthrow of democratically-elected President Mohamed Morsi.