Muslim Brotherhood exiles to leave

CAIRO — At least seven officials and clerics associated with Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood are leaving Qatar, members of the group said Saturday, which could ease a regional quarrel over the Persian Gulf monarchy’s sheltering of fugitives from the Islamist movement.

For more than a year since the Egyptian military removed Islamist President Mohammed Morsi from office, Qatar has offered a haven to many members of his Muslim Brotherhood. It also has called for Morsi’s reinstatement and extended financial support to other Islamist groups, including Hamas.

With nations such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates taking Egypt’s side, Qatar has been diplomatically isolated in the gulf region, but had maintained the political support of regional power Turkey and its Islamistleaning government.

The United States is seeking to assemble a regional coalition to confront the Islamic State, the extremist Sunni Muslim militia that has seized large parts of Syria and Iraq, committing atrocities against Shiite Muslims and ethnic minorities in captured cities and towns. While Qatar does not provide support to the Islamic State, it has thus far not reined in fundraising for jihadist causes among its wealthy citizenry.

The Brotherhood leaders leaving Qatar were careful not to cast any blame on the government in Doha for forcing them out. They included Amr Darrag, who was the senior foreign affairs official in the Brotherhood’s now-banned Freedom and Justice Party.

Darrag said in an online statement that he and others were leaving Qatar to spare it any “embarrassment” in light of “the circumstances the region is currently facing.” But it was not clear whether Qatar would move against figures such as influential Egyptian-born cleric Yusef Qaradawi, who preaches fiery televised sermons in support of the jihadist cause.

The highest ranking member of the group residing in Qatar is Mahmoud Hussein, the secretary general of the Muslim Brotherhood. According to Rassd, a news agency affiliated with the group, Hussein is among those who will be leaving the country.

Apart from Qatar, the region’s most Islamistfriendly power is Turkey, and some of the departing Brotherhood members were expected to seek shelter there.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was in Ankara, the Turkish capital, on Friday seeking support for the U.S.-led campaign against the Islamic State. He said it was too early to talk about what specifically Turkey might do to help the fight.

Egypt’s crackdown on the Brotherhood after of Morsi’s ouster has left at least 1,400 of the movement’s supporters dead and thousands more imprisoned. Morsi is on trial on a variety of charges, several of which carry the death penalty.