Brotherhood official denies any issues with UAE

A senior Muslim Brotherhood official in Egypt has denied that there is any historical animosity between the Islamic movement and the United Arab Emirates. Dr. Abdul Rahman El-Barr refused to elaborate about the existence of Muslim Brotherhood wings in the UAE or elsewhere other than to say that the organisation does not have “wings”.

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Speaking to Quds Press, Dr. El-Barr also declined to comment on the verbal attack made by Dubai Police Chief Dahi Khalfan at a seminar in Dubai on Monday. Khalfan accused the Muslim Brotherhood of “seizing [charitable] donations and now planning to control the treasuries in the states where they operate”. Likening the Brotherhood to a “global mafia”, Khalfan said that there is a “small group planning and controlling everything”. 

Dr. El-Barr responded by saying that he can’t stop anyone saying what they want about the movement but denied that the Brotherhood is a “gang” of any kind: “I invite everyone to fear God before they say anything, and to be accurate so that their words have credibility.” The Brotherhood, he said, is not into “bickering” and does not have time to waste on such issues. “Nevertheless, we demand that accusations are backed up by evidence.”

In Egypt, said the member of the General Guidance Council of the organisation, it is the people who have taken the Muslim Brotherhood to the People’s Assembly, the Shura Council and the presidency. “We were chosen in fair elections; people did not come from underground to vote for us,” he argued. “As scientists say, sometimes it is a problem to state the obvious.”

El-Barr stressed that the Brotherhood respects the sovereignty of Arab states, including the UAE, and does not interfere in national affairs: “We respect the people of the United Arab Emirates and its government; it is a part of the Arab nation and we hope that it will takes up its position within the nation.” The Islamic movement, he insisted, supports the concept of nation states.

“The Muslim Brotherhood is present in all places,” he concluded. “The members are sons of their nations, and the fact that the Brotherhood’s policies are their frame of reference does not mean that we interfere in their affairs.”