In the corridors of the UN Security Council Egyptian diplomats have been lobbying for a coordinated position to be adopted against countries which “support militant groups” that interfere in the internal affairs of other countries to the point of destabilising them. Qatar is one state at which Egypt is pointing the finger. “It is not the only country we are worried about but it is close to the top of the list,” said a Cairo-based Egyptian diplomat. Egypt's diplomatic mission in New York has accused Qatar of providing funding, arms and intelligence to “militant groups” that Cairo says are not only undermining chances for stability in Libya but exporting violence from the chaotic North African state to other countries, including Egypt. “Our point is that if countries like Turkey and Qatar are pressured by the international community to halt their support for militant groups in Libya then not only will Libya become more stable but there also will be far less smuggling of arms and extremists to Libya's neighbours,” says the diplomat. “There is growing international recognition of the threat posed by groups like the Islamic State [IS], Al-Qaeda and others that support and promote terror. What we are calling for is cooperation to end this threat.” According to this diplomat, Cairo wants the UN Security Council to take concrete action to halt the flow of cash and arms to terror groups and to press countries that have provided refuge to hand over alleged militants. But it is likely to be an uphill task given the lack of consensus over which groups in Libya should be designated as terrorist. A New York based European diplomat says Cairo wants to bracket Islamist groups opposed to Khalifa Haftar, the Egypt-supported leader of the Libyan National Army, as terrorist. Late last month Egypt launched aerial attacks against targets in Libya said to be training centres for the terrorists who planned the May attack in Minya that killed 30 Copts. Egypt notified the UN Security Council that the air strikes were an act of self-defence. As Egypt's diplomats were busy in New York pursuing their UN Security Council strategy Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri was in Cairo meeting with his Sudanese counterpart Ibrahim Ghandour. During the meeting, says an Egyptian diplomatic source, Shoukri made it clear that Cairo's patience with Khartoum's turning a blind eye to the smuggling of arms and militants across its border with Egypt was running out. Shoukri insisted Khartoum needed to do much more in terms of border control. “At the very least Sudan has been negligent in relation to its border with Egypt. We want to see tighter security measures adopted, particularly at the intersection of the Libyan, Sudanese and Egyptian border,” said the diplomat. Cairo is hoping the tough measures it along with Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE have taken against Qatar for its “role in meddling in the internal affairs” of its neighbours will dissuade Khartoum from following the same route. “We know that Qatar has been lobbying Khartoum and we at least hope that Sudan will now think twice before continuing to help Doha.” On Monday Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain severed relations with Qatar. Egypt recalled its diplomatic mission — run by a charge d'affaires for three years — from Doha and agreed with Athens that Greece should temporarily represent Egypt's interests. Qatar's ambassador to Egypt was ordered to leave within 48 hours. Like Qatar's Gulf neighbours Egypt has also closed its air space to Qatari airlines and suspended commercial relations. Cairo has not, however, asked the more than 250,000 Egyptian workers in Qatar to return or asked Qataris in Egypt, many of them students attending Egyptian universities, to leave. The diplomatic crisis followed the decision by Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt — taken days after the Riyadh US-Islamic/Arab Summit that underlined the need for all states to halt support to terror groups — to block Qatari satellite channels, newspapers and websites. The consecutive announcements of the Qatari boycott came hours after a brief visit to Cairo by Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir and followed the failure of a Kuwaiti initiative to mend fences among Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members. US President Donald Trump appeared to support the action taken, saying all funding for “radical ideology” needed to be stopped. He tweeted: “During my recent trip to the Middle East I stated that there can no longer be funding of Radical Ideology. Leaders pointed to Qatar — look! . . . Extremism, and all reference was pointing to Qatar. Perhaps this will be the beginning of the end to the horror of terrorism.” Egypt, say sources, provided both the UAE and Saudi Arabia with solid evidence of Qatari interference, not just in Egyptian affairs but in the affairs of Saudi Arabia. Government officials in Cairo now hope Doha will succumb to the pressure being piled on it by its Gulf neighbours. The best case scenario, they say, would be for Qatar to expel all members of Islamist groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood, from its territories and halt its support of militant groups in Libya. But that might be wishful thinking. A more realistic outcome is probably some form of inter-Gulf reconciliation in which Qatar meets specific Saudi demands, mostly related to ending Doha's alleged cooperation with Iran, particularly over Yemen, but which fails to address Cairo's own concerns over the threats Doha's actions pose to Egypt's own national security. Tellingly, the statement issued by Qatar in response to Monday's diplomatic offensive expressed regret for the severing of diplomatic ties with its Gulf neighbours but made no reference to Egypt. Officials in Cairo say that even if this turns out to be the case Monday's actions against Qatar have at least alerted the world to the “destructive role that Doha chooses to play”. According to one official, “we have succeeded in blocking TV channels operating from Qatar and funded with Qatari money that were promoting the Muslim Brotherhood and we will almost certainly get the Qataris to force the Brotherhood leaders it is hosting to refrain from taking any political actions”. “We might also see Qatar reduce its incitement of terror groups in Libya and of the Sudanese against Egypt.” And should inter-GCC reconciliation fail Cairo is prepared to pursue more aggressive diplomatic action against Qatar in the Arab League and maybe the UN Security Council. Kuwait and Oman remain keen to push for reconciliation between Qatar and its neighbours.
