Egypt dismantles Brotherhood cell linked to Al Jazeera

Cairo: Egyptian security agencies have arrested 11 people involved in producing fabricated reports for Qatari TV network Al Jazeera in return for huge sums of money, state media reported Friday.

The false reports, instigated by the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, were aimed at harming the country’s stability by spreading rumours about the situation inside Egypt and inciting against the state institutions, the Interior Ministry said.

The arrested suspects include the owner of a production company based in Cairo’s southern quarter of Maadi, film producers, specialists and collaborators in North Sinai.

Police raids on the suspects’ sites resulted in seizing several computers featuring software for editing and a number of documentaries that were to be broadcast on Al Jazeera with a fabricated content about the situation inside Egypt, the ministry said.

The cell acted upon orders from Brotherhood elements, now staying in Qatar and Turkey. They include Abdul Rahman Youcef Al Qaradawi, the son of Egyptian-born Qatari cleric Al Qaradawi, and fugitive TV presenters Moatez Matar and Mohammad Naser wanted in Egypt in connection with different cases of inciting violence.

Qatar and Turkey are staunch backers of the Brotherhood that was removed from power in Egypt in 2013 following enormous street protests against president Mohammad Mursi, a senior official in the Islamist group.

In 2017, Egypt, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain severed diplomatic and transportation links with Qatar over its support to terrorist groups.