Cairo – Al-Jazeera channel of Qatar has conspired with the Muslim Brotherhood group to undermine Egypt's security, a former correspondent at the Doha-based satellite network said. Speaking at a press conference aired on Extra News TV channel on Thursday, Mohamed Fahmy accused the Brotherhood supporters of attacking journalists and stealing the Qatari channel's equipment in order to air Rabaa Al-Adaweya sit-in in 2013, which was staged in support of former ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi. Speaking about the Qatari role in the Syrian crisis, Fahmy said the royal family in Qatar publicly announces its support for Al-Nusra Front in Syria. He further accused Doha of smuggling a large number of mobile phones and weapons to Syria via Al-Jazeera staffers. Al-Jazeera Mubasher Misr TV channel was banned from airing in Egypt upon a court ruling after it was found out that the Qatari-funded channel poses a threat to Egypt's national security, Fahmy pointed out. After the ouster of Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013, the channel closed its offices in Cairo and started broadcasting from the Qatari capital. In August 2013, Egyptian authorities banned the channel from working in Egypt for not having legal permits. In December 2014, the channel announced it would stop airing from Doha temporarily "until circumstances are appropriate to resume airing from Cairo after the necessary permits are obtained." Fahmy, who held dual Canadian-Egyptian citizenship at the time, was arrested in December 2013 in the aftermath of the ouster of Morsi in 2013. In September 2015, Fahmy received a presidential pardon and left for Canada after renouncing his Egyptian citizenship in an attempt to get deported in accordance with a December 2014 presidential decree that allowed state authorities to deport convicted foreigners. Shortly after leaving Egypt, Fahmy filed a request with the interior ministry to regain his citizenship, arguing he was under exceptional pressure when he renounced his native nationality. In June 2016, Fahmy regained his Egyptian nationality after his request for citizenship was approved by the Egyptian interior minister.
