Doha Willing to Sever Ties with Muslim Brotherhood

US media outlets have revealed Qatar’s willingness to sever ties with the Muslim Brotherhood, classified by Gulf countries as a terrorist group, in an endeavor to bridge the rift.

Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al-Thani made an unannounced visit to Saudi Arabia in October to meet top Saudi officials in an effort to end a two-year dispute, The Wall Street Journal reported.

It quoted an Arab official who confirmed the visit as saying that the Qatari Foreign Minister made a surprise offer to end the crisis, saying Doha was ready to sever ties with the Muslim Brotherhood.

The newspaper said the proposal would satisfy the huge demand made by the Arab quartet when it cut diplomatic relations with Qatar in 2017, accusing it of supporting terrorism.

“Saudi Arabia is considering Qatar’s proposal, but so far it is not clear whether the parties can agree,” the Arab official said.

Current and former US diplomats and officials from the region have expressed doubts about the possibility of bridging the rift in the near future.

The Qatari diplomat’s visit to Riyadh was preceded by several intensive diplomatic rounds, many of which were mediated by Kuwait, said reliable sources, adding that some meetings were held on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Japan this summer, without giving further details.

On June 5, 2017, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt severed ties with Qatar.