UAE slams Brotherhood threats

Emirati authorities have demanded an "explanation" from Egypt over Muslim Brotherhood support for criticism of the United Arab Emirates by an influential cleric. The foreign affairs minister of state, Anwar Mohammad Gargash, "met Egypt's Foreign Minister (Mohammed Amr) and demanded an explanation on comments" by Muslim Brotherhood spokesman Mahmud Ghazlan, an Emirati spokesman said. According to media reports, Ghazlan said the "entire Muslim world" would act against the UAE if cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi, who criticised the Emirates after it expelled Syrians who demonstrated against their regime, was arrested. Dubai's police chief, Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan, last week vowed to arrest Qaradawi, who often appears on Al-Jazeera television and is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, if he renewed his criticism. In a statement received on Sunday, the opposition Syrian National Council said it had not asked Qaradawi to "intervene" in the case of the expelled Syrians. "We do not need a mediator between us and the UAE, with which we have strong ties," it said. The UAE cancelled the residencies of dozens of Syrians who demonstrated outside the Syrian consulate in Dubai on February 10. The Brotherhood is a major player in Egyptian politics, with its Freedom and Justice Party having won the majority of seats in parliament following last year's uprising which toppled President Hosni Mubarak.