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 Qatar was a firm supporter of Egypt's former Islamist President
Mohamed Mursi and ties with Cairo have deteriorated since the army
deposed him in July following mass protests against his year-long
rule.
Egypt accuses Qatar and its Doha-based Al Jazeera television channel
of backing the Muslim Brotherhood, which it declared a terrorist
organization on December 25. Thousands of its members have been
arrested.
A Qatari Foreign Ministry statement said: "The decision to designate
popular political movements as terrorist organizations, and labeling
peaceful demonstrations as terrorism, did not succeed in stopping
the peaceful protests."
"It was only a prelude to a shoot-to-kill policy on demonstrators,"
the statement published by state news agency QNA said. It said that
"inclusive dialogue" between all sides was the only solution to
Egypt's crisis.
On Friday, 17 people were shot dead as supporters of the Brotherhood
clashed with police across Egypt, defying a widening state crackdown
on the movement that ruled the country until six months ago.
Islamists opposed to the army's overthrow of Mursi have been holding
daily demonstrations for months.
Last week, Egypt's general prosecutor detained several journalists
for 15 days for broadcasting graphics on Al Jazeera, alleging that
they damaged Egypt's reputation.
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In an interview with Egypt's newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm in November,
Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmi said Al Jazeera was one of the reasons
for worsening ties between the two states.
"There must be a stance taken with regard to any interference in
Egypt's internal affairs, not forgiving those who overstep its
rights," he said when asked if Cairo might sanction Doha as it did
to Ankara last year.
Egypt expelled the Turkish ambassador in November after it accused
Ankara of backing organizations bent on undermining the country — an
apparent reference to the Brotherhood.
A conservative estimate puts the death toll since Mursi's fall at
well over 1,500 people, mainly Brotherhood supporters. About 400
police and soldiers have been killed in bombings and shootings.
(Writing by Rania El Gamal; editing by Alister Doyle)
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