Qatar, a strong backer of Arab Spring uprisings and supporter of ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi, has joined international calls for his release from detention while expressing concern at violence sweeping Egypt. State news agency QNA on 23 July quoted a foreign ministry official as saying Qatar had voiced ‘concern over the developments in Egypt, especially with the increasing number of civilian victims’. It said it was ‘surprised by the continued detention of elected president Mohamed Morsi which threatens the achievements made by the 25 January (2011) revolt’ that forced former Egyptian ruler Hosni Mubarak out of office. Since the army deposed him on 3 July, Morsi and several of his top aides, including leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood, have been held in detention.
The Qatari foreign ministry official, who was not named, called for ‘a political solution based on national unity dialogue’ to resolve the political crisis in Egypt. But this ‘cannot be achieved in the absence of one of the parties in the dialogue and the continued arrest of its symbols,’ the official said.