Al Jazeera’s Egypt closure deals blow to Muslim Brotherhood
The suspension of Al Jazeera’s Mubasher Misr TV station in the wake of Qatar’s rapprochement with the Egyptian government has cost the Muslim Brotherhood its main media arm in the country.
Al Jazeera has announced it will close its Mubasher Misr TV station in Egypt, following the Qatari-Egyptian rapprochement, in a setback for the Muslim Brotherhood.
On Dec. 20, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi met with the special envoy of the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani, the special envoy of Saudi King Abdullah, Khaled bin Abdul Aziz Al-Tuwaijir and the president of the Saudi Royal Court, Khaled al-Tuwaijri, as an inauguration of the rapprochement between Egyptian-Qatari relations.
Following the meeting, Al Jazeera announced the suspension of its Egyptian station, Mubasher Misr, which was established following the overthrow of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in 2011.
The suspension accompanied a shift in Al Jazeera’s coverage of Egypt immediately following the rapprochement. The station has changed its rhetoric in presenting Egyptian news and developments. Prior to the rapprochement, Al Jazeera referred to Sisi as the leader of the coup that ousted President Mohammed Morsi on July 3, 2013. The station now refers to Sisi as the Egyptian president in its news bulletins.
