Egyptian authorities arrest Shaykh Yusuf al-Qardawi’s daughter and son-in-law on terrorism charges

Egyptian authorities have arrested the daughter and son-in-law of the prominent Muslim Brotherhood scholar Shaykh Yusuf al-Qardawi.

Ula al-Qaradawi and her husband, Hussam Khalad, a leader of the al-Wasat Party were arrested during their stay at an Egyptian resort in the North Coast.

The police and secret services took them to Alexandria’s public prosecution and investigated their alleged involvement in “funding terrorist groups” and financially aiding the banned Muslim Brotherhood.

The prosecution decided to detain Ula al-Qaradawi and her husband under custodial investigation for 15 days on charges of joining a terrorist group and funding the Muslim Brotherhood.

The list of the politically motivated charges also included “leading a terrorist group that calls for violation of government establishments and targeting public facilities to cripple the state, disrupting established systems, and knowingly endangering public safety.”

It also extended to financing the Muslim Brotherhood with from other countries.

Egyptian officials told the Saudi media outlet Al Arabiya that Ula al-Qaradawi has a dual-nationality – Egyptian and Qatari – and has worked for the Qatari embassy in Egypt for some years.

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The arrests are believed to be a part of the recent diplomatic and trade boycott of Qatar by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and other Arab countries for allegedly supporting Iran, funding terrorism and supporting the Muslim Brotherhood.

Whilst Qatar has strongly rejected the accusations of colluding with Iran and funding terrorism, the boycott of the small Gulf country and the witch-hunt of the Muslim Brotherhood is understood to be the beginning of normalising political and economic relations with Israel – an initiative spearheaded by Saudi’s new Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman and supported by the Donald Trump administration.

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