The war of words between the Muslim Brotherhood and Dubai police chief Dahi Khalfan is likely to continue, writes Doaa El-Bey "I guess no one commits crimes in Dubai if their police chief, Dahi Khalfan, has so much free time," read one message posted on Twitter. The tweet, along with many others, was a response to Khalfan's own blogging. "If they [the Muslim Brotherhood] try to shake the security of the Gulf the bloodshed will come up to their knees," wrote Khalfan in one post. On Mohamed Mursi's election as president Khalfan said: "An unfortunate choice. The repercussions will weigh heavy on poor, ordinary people." However, the tweet that aroused more anger among the Muslim Brotherhood was Khalfan's prediction that "he [Mursi] will kiss the hands of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques just as [MB founder] Hassan El-Banna did with King Abdel-Aziz". The tweet was later removed from Khalfan's account. Claiming that he had received more than 1,500 threats from members of the Muslim Brotherhood, Khalfan said he had no doubts that the thuggery of the Muslim Brotherhood would "exceed that of Habib El-Adli", Mubarak's feared interior minister. The UAE, which congratulated Mursi on his election victory, has said Khalfan's postings reflect his personal opinions, not those of the state. The row that followed the posting of Khalfan's comments triggered official reactions from both Cairo and Dubai. UAE Deputy Foreign Minister Tariq Al-Hidan arrived in Cairo earlier this week to defuse tensions between Egypt and the UAE following the controversial statements. Jamal Khalfan bin Huwaireb, cultural adviser to the government of Dubai, was also in Cairo last Friday. During his one day visit, according to reports in Al-Ahram daily, he discussed Khalfan's remarks with Egyptian officials. Last week the Foreign Ministry summoned United Arab Emirates' Ambassador to Egypt Mohamed bin Nakhira to request clarification of statements that Foreign Ministry spokesman Amr Roshdi said were "not commensurate with the special relationship between the two countries, or with the UAE welcoming the results of the first democratic presidential election in Egypt after the glorious 25 January Revolution". Meanwhile, Muslim Brotherhood leaders met last week to discuss legal steps in response to Khalfan's comments. Khalfan, who escalated his attacks on the Brotherhood after Mursi won the presidential election, has a history of clashing with the group. Earlier this year Khalfan said he would order the arrest of Youssef El-Qaradawi, head of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, should he attempt to enter the UAE. The statement followed El-Qaradawi's criticism of the Emirati government for deporting Syrians who had protested against the regime in Damascus in front of the Syrian embassy in Abu Dhabi. At the time the Muslim Brotherhood's spokesman Mohamed Ghozlan responded by warning the UAE that it would face the anger of the entire Arab and Muslim world if El-Qaradawi was arrested. Egypt's Foreign Ministry subsequently issued an official statement insisting that Ghozlan had been misquoted. Egyptians living in the Gulf already say they are facing difficulties renewing work permits and visas, while officials worry the war of words could negatively affect economic relations between the two states. The UAE has LE30 billion of investments in Egypt while annual trade between the two states currently stands at LE7 billion.
