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Egypt Accuses Brotherhood of Exploiting COVID-19 to Distort State’s Image

Egyptian supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood protesting in Cairo, Egypt on 11 November 2016 [Apaimages]
Egyptian supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood protesting in Cairo, Egypt on 11 November 2016 [Apaimages]
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Egypt Accuses Brotherhood of Exploiting COVID-19 to Distort State’s Image

Egyptian supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood protesting in Cairo, Egypt on 11 November 2016 [Apaimages]
Egyptian supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood protesting in Cairo, Egypt on 11 November 2016 [Apaimages]

Muslim Brotherhood (MB) members are spreading rumors on social media to question the integrity of measures taken by the Egyptian government to contain the COVID-19, security experts and researchers in fundamentalist movements told Asharq Al-Awsat on Thursday.

“The Brotherhood is trying to exploit the government’s preoccupation with fighting the virus to achieve political targets by stirring confusion and discord among Egyptians,” said former Assistant to the Minister of Interior Farouk al-Makrahy.

Meanwhile, a security source accused a pro-MB television channel of airing a video from last year, showing Christian celebrations and accusing the State of not taken legal measures against them similar to the procedures taken against the violations of some mosque preachers.

Few days before this video, Egypt’s Interior Ministry accused the MB of “instigating the prevention of burial of a female doctor who died of coronavirus” in Egypt’s north-eastern governorate, Dakahlia.

The ministry described people who had participated in the incident as “outlaws,” and it accused them of “responding to rumors and incitement made by the Brotherhood group under the pretext of preventing the spread of the virus.”

Khaled Zaakarani, a researcher in fundamentalist movements, told Asharq Al-Awsat: “The Brotherhood is working to provoke panic among residents by questioning the government’s efforts to contain the virus.”

He said MB members were spreading false news on social media concerning the number of COVID-19 infected people in the country.

Lately, Bahgat Saber, a New York-based Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood activist, said in a video he uploaded to his Facebook page that any Egyptian who has flu-like symptoms or coronavirus should deliberately go to Egyptian police stations, public prosecution offices, courthouses, embassies, and consulates and shake hands with government officials as a revenge against President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi's government.

“Rumors and videos spread by the Muslim Brotherhood would never find an echo among Egyptians,” stressed Makrahy.

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Syria, Jordan, US Agree to Back Ceasefire Enforcement in Sweida

This handout picture released by the Jordanian Foreign Ministry shows (L to R) Syria's interim Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani, Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, and US special envoy for Syria Tom Barrack meeting in Amman on August 12, 2025. (Jordanian Foreign Ministry / AFP)
This handout picture released by the Jordanian Foreign Ministry shows (L to R) Syria's interim Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani, Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, and US special envoy for Syria Tom Barrack meeting in Amman on August 12, 2025. (Jordanian Foreign Ministry / AFP)
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Syria, Jordan, US Agree to Back Ceasefire Enforcement in Sweida

This handout picture released by the Jordanian Foreign Ministry shows (L to R) Syria's interim Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani, Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, and US special envoy for Syria Tom Barrack meeting in Amman on August 12, 2025. (Jordanian Foreign Ministry / AFP)
This handout picture released by the Jordanian Foreign Ministry shows (L to R) Syria's interim Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani, Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, and US special envoy for Syria Tom Barrack meeting in Amman on August 12, 2025. (Jordanian Foreign Ministry / AFP)

Syria, Jordan and the United States agreed on Tuesday to form a joint task force to support Damascus’ efforts to uphold a ceasefire in the Sweida province in southern Syria and end the crisis there, the three countries said in a joint statement.

The agreement was reached during talks in Jordan between Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani, his Jordanian counterpart Ayman Safadi, and US special envoy to Syria Tom Barrack, the statement said.

The meeting discussed ways to help rebuild Syria “on foundations that guarantee its security, stability, sovereignty, unity and non-interference in its internal affairs.”

Jordan and the United States welcomed Damascus’ steps, including “full investigations and holding all perpetrators of crimes and violations in Sweida accountable” and its readiness to cooperate with relevant UN agencies in the probe, the Syrian foreign ministry said.

They also praised Syria’s moves to expand humanitarian aid access to all areas of Sweida, restore disrupted services, start community reconciliation, and promote civil peace.

Both countries reiterated their “full solidarity” with Syria’s security, stability, sovereignty and territorial integrity. Sweida and its communities were an “integral part of Syria” whose residents’ rights must be preserved in the rebuilding process, the statement said.

The three sides agreed to meet again in the coming weeks to continue Tuesday’s discussions.

Barrack said on X: “Syria remains steadfastly committed to a united process that honors and protects all its constituencies, fostering a shared future for the Syrian people despite intervening forces seeking to disrupt and displace its communities.”

“Delivering justice and ending impunity are paramount to achieving lasting peace,” he stressed.

“The Syrian government has pledged to utilize all resources to hold perpetrators of the Sweida atrocities accountable, ensuring no one escapes justice for violations against its citizens,” he added. “Syria will fully cooperate with the UN to investigate these crimes.”

During a meeting with Shaibani, Safadi reaffirmed Jordan’s rejection of foreign interference in Syria and its support for the country’s security, sovereignty and territorial integrity, according to a Jordanian foreign ministry statement.

The FMs condemned repeated Israeli air strikes and incursions into Syria, calling them a “flagrant violation of international law” that threatened regional stability.

They discussed efforts to cement the Sweida truce, agreed last month after violence between armed groups in the mainly Druze province killed hundreds.

On X, Shaibani said Syria was committed to protecting Sweida’s Druze, Bedouin and Christian residents and to countering any sectarian or inciting rhetoric. “Our Druze people are an integral part of Syria... we reject any attempt to marginalize them under any pretext,” he said.

He pledged accountability for all violations in Sweida “regardless of the party involved,” saying justice was essential to building a state governed by law.