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Saudi Arabia signals easing of tension with Islamist cleric

The spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood attended a ceremony organised by Saudi Arabia in Qatar on Friday, signalling an easing of Riyadh's hostility towards the Islamist movement.

 

Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi, a Qatar-based cleric whose fiery sermons have strained ties with Gulf neighbours, appeared alongside the Qatari prime minister and the Saudi ambassador at an event in Doha to celebrate Saudi Arabia's national day.

 

The accession to the Saudi throne in January of King Salman, who is more sympathetic to religious conservatives than his predecessor King Abdullah, caused glimmers of hope among Muslim Brotherhood exiles in Qatar that the Middle East's political winds had started to shift in their favour, potentially giving the Islamist group more space to act.

 

Salman, while stopping short of befriending the Brotherhood, has worked to reduce tensions with the movement's own allies, strengthening Riyadh's ties with Turkey and Qatar and reaching out to Islah, the Islamist group's offshoot in Yemen.

 


פרסום ראשון: 10.02.15, 20:28