Washington – Former US Republican Congressman Mike Rogers stressed that Washington must persuade Qatar to change its behavior and start negotiations to resolve the crisis with its Gulf neighbors.
Rogers, who is the former chairman of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, revealed to Asharq Al-Awsat that Doha has a “long history” in supporting people or groups linked to terrorism, adding that there are documents to support these claims.
He underlined the need for a diplomatic solution, saying that Washington wants it to be resolved as soon as possible.
Furthermore, the US official said that he dealt with Qatar’s disruptive when he headed the intelligence panel, noting that the crisis was not a recent development.
“It appears that this is an ongoing problem,” Rogers remarked.
“I believe that the US should play a role in ending the dispute. When Qatar faces this kind of Gulf boycott, then it should reconsider the way it behaves. I think the US can play a role in mediating between Qatar and its neighbors and convince it in changing it behavior and helping it repair its ties with the Gulf Cooperation Council,” he stated.
In addition, he revealed that the US will soon include Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood on its terrorist list. The final preparations are being completed to this end.
He said that there is damning evidence of the group’s involvement in terrorist acts in Egypt.
“The blacklisting of the Muslim Brotherhood is only a matter of time. We have spoken of the importance of exchanging intelligence information. We must exchange the information in a better way in order to place the group on the terror list,” he added.
The Muslim Brotherhood will be blacklisted soon, Rogers stated.
At this point, however, only some branches of the Brotherhood will be blacklisted, because not all of its arms act in the same way, explained the former Congressman.
Not everyone linked to the organization is a terrorist, he clarified. The group is being used by terrorist groups to impose their influence in the region.
“We should therefore be thorough when making such designations,” he stressed.
Moreover, he revealed that he was “fooled” by the group into believing that it had charitable aims, but it turned out to be performing over activities.
The blacklisting of the Muslim Brotherhood will not end it and it will not mean an end to the terrorists, but it will greatly curb its power in recruiting people and halt its funding, Rogers said.
Rogers served in the army from 1985 to 1989. He worked as a special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. A Republican representing Michigan, he was elected to the Senate in 1994 and to Congress in 2000. He was reelected six times between 2001 and 2015. He chaired the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence from 2011 to 2015.