Egypt has formally requested Qatar to freeze the assets of Islamist scholar Youssef Qaradawi for “funding terrorists” in Egypt, Mohamed Yasser Aboul Fotouh, the secretary general of a committee inventorying and managing seized Muslim Brotherhood assets, told Youm Monday.
The assets of the controversial Qatar-based cleric allegedly amount to billions of Egyptian pounds in Qatari banks, and he has earned them from donations and foreign funding under the guise of a charity in Gharbia governorate in the Delta, according to Aboul Fotouh.
The government seized the funds of hundreds of charities that belong to the Brotherhood for allegedly using donations to fund the group.
Qaradawi, who holds Egyptian and Qatari citizenship, is also accused of inciting violence in Egypt and belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood, which the Egyptian government designated as a terrorist organization in December 2013. Qatar is an Interpol state, but has not attempted to extradite the sheikh.
Egypt seeks the recovery of the money Qaradawi “illegitimately acquired,” and has said it will call on foreign countries to seize “smuggled funds” that Egypt had frozen.
On Dec. 06, Qaradawi and 41 Brotherhood members earned a spot on Interpol’s wanted list, as his capture is sought by the Egyptian government for murder, helping prisoners to escape, arson, vandalism and theft.
On Dec. 09, the International Islamic Council for Da’wah and Relief revoked Qaradawi’s membership for “mixing politics with religion.”
