Egypt cleric: Qatar, Saudi servants of Israel

A senior Egyptian cleric has lashed out at both Qatar and Saudi Arabia, saying the two Gulf countries are “servants” of Israel. He added that the two countries, voiceful in their condemnation of Syria President Bashar al-Assad’s violent crackdown on protesters, are serving American and Israeli agendas in Syria. “Firstly, is there a democracy in Qatar and Saudi Arabia? I don’t think so. They interfered in Libya. They killed a hundred times more people than Gaddafi [killed] in Libya. They have nothing to do with Islam,” Sheikh Mohammad Alaedin Madhi said in an exclusive interview with Press TV in the Egyptian capital, Cairo. “Saudi Arabia buys arms and weapons from the US every year. Who do they use these weapons against? They use their weapons against the Houthi Muslims,” he said, referring to the north-based Shia minority in Yemen. “They killed Muslims in Bahrain. They threaten Syria, which is a Muslim nation. Why don’t they fight against Israel? Qatar and Saudi Arabia are Israel’s servants.” But one foreign ministry official from Qatar, currently in the UAE on a diplomatic mission, told Bikyamasr.com that “this is simply ridiculous. What Qatar wants is to end the bloodshed and allow the Syrian people to have their country the way they want.” He added that the interview done by Iran’s state-controlled television was an “attempt by the Iranians to foment distrust in the region as they continue to supply weapons to Assad, who in turn kills his people. Qatar will not stand for that.” Mahdi continued to argue that Lebanon’s Hezbollah – also a supporter of the Assad regime in Damascus – is the “only challenge to Israel” across the region and called for Arabs to support the Islamic movement. Most activists in the region have demanded Arab countries stand up for the Syrian people and have called on the Gulf countries and Egypt to intervene to end the violence. According to the United Nations, over 7,500 people have been killed in the now over one-year long uprising against Assad. Iran’s Press TV said only hundreds were killed, belying the facts from independent sources on the ongoing conflict.