Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has fired the director of an Islamic TV channel for his role as the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood in Kuwait, a widely published AP report said on 18 August, adding that Prince Alwaleed wrote on his Twitter account on 18 August that he sacked Tarek Al-Suwaidan “for admitting he belongs to the Brotherhood terrorist movement”. Al-Suwaidan, a Kuwaiti, was the Director General of Al-Resalah channel, which belongs to Alwaleed’s Rotana Group – a large pan-Arab media conglomerate based in Riyadh.
Al-Suwaidan has sharply criticised Egypt’s military-backed government and voiced support for deposed President Mohamed Morsi on his Twitter account. Saudi King Abdullah, whose country has pledged $5 billion in aid to Egypt’s interim leaders, supported Cairo’s crackdown on the Brotherhood, saying the kingdom stood by Egypt’s fight against “terrorism and strife”, the report said.