An Internet news portal is reporting on comment made by the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide calling on Saudi Arabia to stop fighting on the Saudi-Yemeni border. According to a report on the MidEast News Source:
The war between the army and rebels in northern Yemen is spilling into other countries in the region. The ongoing war between the Yemeni army and rebels in the country’s north is causing ripples throughout the region, stirring local political conflicts and increasing tensions between Sunnis and Shi’ites. The most recent flare up came Sunday when Egypt’s largest opposition movement, the Muslim Brotherhood, called on Saudi King Abdallah to stop fighting on the Saudi-Yemeni border and halt the killing of innocent people. While maintaining Saudi Arabia’s right to protect its borders, the head of the movement, Muhammad Mahdi Akef, called on Saudi Arabia to “put an immediate end to the fighting in Yemen’s battles.” That call has stirred a spat with Egypt’s ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), which says the Brotherhood is using the conflict in northern Yemen to sow strife among Muslims. Dr. Mustafa Alani, research program director at the Gulf Research Center, said it was not surprising that a conflict that has drawn intervention from Saudi Arabia and Iran is of concern to political players in Egypt. “The main reason why this all started is because Hamas moved closer to Tehran, and Hamas is one of the most successful products of the Muslim Brotherhood,” Alani told The Media Line. “This is why the Muslim Brotherhood in general has been accused of taking a relaxed attitude towards the Iranian interventionist policies. The Iranians believe the Muslim Brotherhood is helping to promote national interests.” The rebellion in North Yemen, led by a Shia affiliated group called the Al-Houthis, began in 2004, intensified in August and over the past week has drawn military intervention from the Saudi army. Saudi Arabia claimed to regain control over an area seized by rebels last week, but insists that its offensive has been restricted to its own soil and has not drifted into Yemen. Yemen accuses Tehran of providing training and support to the rebels as part of the Sunni-Shia power struggle in the region. NDP officials argue that the Brotherhood has condemned the Saudis for defending Saudi territory, but has never censured Al-Houthi rebels for killing Yemeni civilians. “Why isn’t the Muslim Brotherhood issuing a statement about the Al-Houthis spilling of blood, or at least targeting the Al-Houthis and Saudi Arabia, rather than just the Saudis?” Mustafa Fiqqi, head of the Egyptian parliament’s Foreign Relations Committee told A-Sharq Al-Awsat.
An earlier post discussed the complex relationship between the Egyptian Brotherhood and Iran and Saudi Arabia.