Rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Muslim Brotherhood provokes Egypt

In early February 2014, Saudi media outlets published a royal decree that stated the Kingdom’s decision to jail any individual who affiliates himself with a religious organisation for a period of three to 20 years. This decree applied to religious organisations characterised on the state, regional or international level as terrorist organisations. The individuals who risked prosecution were not only those who affiliated and identified ideologically with the organisations in question but also those who sympathised with their ideologies in any way. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had previously expressed its support for the July 2013 military coup in Egypt, which led to the ouster of the democratically-elected Muslim Brotherhood president, Mohamed Morsi, and his replacement by the then Minister of Defence Abdel Fatah Al-Sisi.

After more than 18 months and a change in the political scene and atmosphere, Riyadh is now welcoming and hosting officials from Hamas, the Tunisian Ennahda movement and even the Yemeni Hizb Al-Islah, all of which are affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood in some form. Moreover, unlike its Emirati counterparts, Saudi news sources have begun to deal with and portray the Muslim Brotherhood in a drastically different way than they have in the past. This change of sentiment is more than likely due to Saudi Arabia’s geopolitical strategy and its ties to the status quo in the region; regional relations with the Muslim Brotherhood have begun to change as a whole in recent years. In the 1950s and 60s, the Kingdom became a place of refugee for key figures from the Muslim Brotherhood who were being targeted by authorities in Egypt, Syria and Iraq. During the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, the Kingdom and the Brotherhood upheld a united front to fight the invasion under US sponsorship; however, the first Gulf War from 1990 to 1991 and the end of the Cold War put an end to this accord.

In 2002, the former Saudi Minister of Defence, the late Prince Nayef, stated in a Kuwaiti newspaper that: “The Muslim Brotherhood are the reason behind the majority of the problems in the Arab world and they are the cause of many problems in Saudi Arabia. We have supported this group more than necessary and they have destroyed the Arab world.” The prince also noted that the Muslim Brotherhood did not express their support for the Kingdom during Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait; however, what he failed to mention is that the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood supports the establishment of an Islamic state but on an electoral basis, which differs from the visions of most Gulf kingdoms. In fact, to further prove this point, one must note that the Muslim Brotherhood supported the demonstrations that swept Kuwait in the 1990s in support of a constitutional monarchy.

From 2011 to 2013, when the Muslim Brotherhood expressed its support for the revolutionary movements in the region, Saudi Arabia experienced a wave of fear at the possibility of popular support for democratic yet Islamic groups in power. And yet, it did not take long for Saudi Arabia to turn its fears and concerns towards Iran and how to counter the Islamic Republic’s rising influence in the region. The Kingdom began working towards building a “Sunni front” by focusing its efforts on countries such as Iraq, Syria, Palestine, Lebanon and Yemen in light of the increased risk of the impending nuclear deal between Iran and the 5 + 1 and a breakthrough in relations between Washington and Tehran. In light of all these developments, Riyadh began to explore new channels to communicate with the Muslim Brotherhood, following the realisation that the Brotherhood was no longer the biggest threat to the Kingdom. According to sources close to the Brotherhood, communications began to blossom in the final months of King Abdullah’s reign until his death on 23 January, 2015, and further developed after the ascension of King Salman to the throne. The reconciliation process has been further aided by King Salman’s Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen, as well as his awareness of the importance of developing a Sunni front in the region.

Rapprochement began on the Yemeni scene, while the Brotherhood’s regional allies who were also participating in the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen supported it. The Yemeni-based Al-Islah party, which is affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, has been one the main forces combatting the Houthis on the ground in Yemen from the very beginning and has therefore found itself to be a crucial part in the Saudi-led coalition. Al-Islah has played an undeniable role under the leadership of General Ali Mohsen Al-Ahmar. After coalition forces gained control of Aden last August, they appointed Naif Al-Bakri as the governor of the city. Al-Bakri was a former member of Al-Islah and his appointment angered both the UAE and the United States. Other Islah leaders such as Abdul-Majid Al-Zindani have taken refuge in Saudi Arabia along with several other members of the group. It is important to note that their presence in the Kingdom was banned as recently as last year.

Syria is the only example of an Arab country where Saudi Arabia actually worked to overthrow the regime after months of uncertainty. Like the Turkish government, Saudi officials remain wholly committed to bringing down the Assad regime despite both French and American apprehension. In Ankara, a new Islamic front has emerged with the hopes of uniting Islamic powers. This united front does not exclusively include the Muslim Brotherhood per se, but also Jabhat Al-Nusra, which is the Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda.

The most recent example of these developments is the Kingdom’s shift in its treatment of Hamas, a group that has long been on the black list for its relations with Iran. Hamas has expressed its proximity to the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria and elsewhere, and claims its relationship with Tehran is based on the fact that the Iranian government has provided the group with a great deal of undeniable logistical support. When it was announced that Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal had gone on a state visit to Iran, he was subsequently invited to visit Saudi Arabia in July 2015. While there, Meshaal met with the King and the Crown Prince, which not only ended years of strife between the two parties but was also the reason for Iran’s backlash against the Palestinian group.

The Vice President of the Iranian parliamentary committee, Mansour Haghighatpour, had the following to say in response to Meshaal’s visit to the Kingdom: “This would not be the first time that Hamas commits an error of this nature… they have previously been warned but they clearly do not understand the message. If they do not take heed and move in the right direction they will no longer be able to use that which has been afforded to them by the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

More importantly, Egypt is just as, if not more, disturbed by this rapprochement as it has implemented a continued siege on Gaza and closed more than 3,000 tunnels. Egyptian officials became even angered when Tunisia’s Ennahda leader Rachid Al-Ghannouchi visited Riyadh last June and stressed the importance of rapprochement between the Muslim Brotherhood and Cairo. The Egyptian regime has done nothing but emphasise their belief that there is virtually no difference between the Muslim Brotherhood and Al-Qaeda or Daesh, the same equation that the Israeli government uses in its treatment of Hamas. The Egyptian regime derives its legitimacy form the belief that it saved the country from the likes of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Officials have denied any deterioration of relations between Riyadh and Cairo, claiming they have many shared interests. Never in the history of Egypt has the media been this loyal to the regime, not even in the days of Gamal Abdul Nasser. Weekly political newspaper, Rose Al-Youssef, published an article by journalist Ahmed Shawki Al-Attar regarding Meshaal’s recent visit to Saudi Arabia in which he declared: “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has betrayed Egypt”. Al-Attar subsequently called for restoring ties with Iran and was supported by famous journalist Mohamed Hassanein Heikal who reiterated the same sentiment in the Lebanese newspaper Al-Safir.

Although Egypt was supportive of the idea of Saudi intervention in Yemen, it remains opposed to the notion of sending ground troops, as the Egyptian authorities remain very conservative when it comes to tactics on how to overthrow a regime. Despite this, government-owned newspaper Al-Ahram crossed a line when it published an article on 9 September in which journalist Makram Mohamed Makram denounced those who support “the American project to divide the Middle East”. Makram went a step further when he saluted the Syrian army for defending its land and declared that Syrian refugees were not running away from Bashar Al-Assad but from Daesh. He condemned those who supported the endeavours of the Free Syrian Army, which he views as an extension of the Muslim Brotherhood. In summary, his article also declared: “Whatever crimes Al-Assad commits pale in comparison to those that are committed by terrorists.” We know by now that true friendships are not affected by rumours. Saudi Arabia and Egypt must deal with their differences accordingly and this statement specifically refers to Cairo as it stands under the shadow of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Translated from Al-Araby Al-Jadid, 29 September 2015.