Egyptian court postpones ruling on case accusing Qatar of supporting terrorism

An Egyptian court on Monday postponed until 16 June an appeal against the decision by the Court of Urgent Matters that it lacked jurisdiction to rule in a lawsuit demanding that Qatar be named as one of the states that supports and funds terrorism.

As-Sabeel weekly newspaper reported that the court of appeals in Abdeen, downtown Cairo, decided to postpone the appeal against the Court of Urgent Matters, which decided on 7 May that it lacked the jurisdiction to rule on this case. Submission of the case’s documents must be completed before the 16 June session, at which time a verdict will be delivered.

The lawyer Samir Sabri, who filed the case demanding that the interim president of Egypt, prime minister and minister of the interior, as well as the secretary general of the Arab League, all declare Qatar to be a terror-supporting state based on of its political alliance with the Muslim Brotherhood, which the Egyptian government declared a “terrorist organisation” in December 2013, without providing any evidence to back it up.

“The State of Qatar is home to a number of terrorists who fled from justice, and it refuses to extradite them to Egypt as required by Interpol,” As-Sabeel quoted the lawyer as saying.

A judicial circuit affiliated with the administrative court of the State Council had decided in late January not to examine a similar case demanding the expulsion of the Qatari ambassador from Cairo. The court cited lack of jurisdiction, stating that this matter has a political nature that falls within the scope of the government rather than the judiciary.

Also, the Cairo Court for Urgent Matters in Abdeen on 16 April decreed lack of jurisdiction in ruling on another lawsuit demanding a ban on all of Israel’s activities in Egypt on the grounds that Israel is a “terrorist state”.

And yet, in March of last year, the same court decided to suspend and ban the Egyptian activities of the Palestinian movement Hamas.

Relations between Egypt and Qatar have been strained ever since the military ouster of President Mohamed Morsi on 3 July 2013. Cairo accuses Doha of supporting the Muslim Brotherhood, which Morsi belongs to, a charge that Qatar denies.