Two of the Muslim Brotherhood’s top leaders still reside in Qatar one year after it was reported that both had been expelled. Spiritual leader Yusuf al-Qaradawi and Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal still enjoy safe harbor in Qatar. Yet, we’re to believe courtesy of a Muslim Brotherhood leader’s facebook page, that leaders of the terrorist group – who are smaller fish than either Qaradawi or Meshaal – are being booted from Qatar.

Hamas’ Khaled Meshaal (R) kisses Yusuf al-Qaradawi (L) in Qatar.

Yeah, right.

The non-designated – but worthy of being designated as such – state sponsor of terrorism that is the country of Qatar appears to be feeling some (emphasize some) pressure over its support of the Muslim Brotherhood. It’s little more than a token gesture when some members of the Muslim Brotherhood Qatar so vehement supports, leave the country and call attention to it. In fact, the token gesture could just be coming from the Muslim Brotherhood itself.

Before getting to the opening stanzas of a New York Times article that reports on the departures, check out the very last paragraph of the article:

It was unclear how many Brotherhood leaders were leaving Qatar. Istanbul and London are the other hubs for Egyptian Islamists in exile.

Istanbul and London? Let’s get this straight. If you’re a Muslim Brotherhood terrorist leader who is finding safe haven in Qatar and are then asked to leave because you’re causing too much trouble – even for Qatar – your other options are Turkey or Great Britain?!

That must be welcome news as the third western beheading victim in the ISIS propaganda war is a Brit.

The headline of the New York Times article serves to run interference for Qatar: “Muslim Brotherhood Says Qatar Ousted Its Members”.

Again, yeah, right. The article was penned by the paper’s Cairo Bureau Chief David Kirkpatrick, whose credibility has long since been shot. Remember that Benghazi novella he published last December?

Here is how the Times article starts:

An Egyptian leader of the Muslim Brotherhood said Saturday that several of the group’s prominent members had been asked to leave Qatar, in an apparent concession to a campaign by other Persian Gulf monarchies to pressure Qatar away from its support for the group.

“Some symbols of the Muslim Brotherhood and its political wing — the Freedom and Justice Party — who were asked by authorities to move their residence outside the state of Qatar have now honored that request,” the Egyptian, Amr Darrag, a senior Brotherhood leader, said in a statement posted on the group’s website.

A Qatari diplomat contradicted Mr. Darrag, speaking on the condition of anonymity. The diplomat said that the Brotherhood leaders had decided to depart for their own reasons without any request from Qatar, and that they were welcome to return.

“Maybe for some of them, they saw from the media that the country is being pressed and they left of their own free will because they did not want to put the country in an embarrassing situation,” the diplomat said.

So who’s right, the Muslim Brotherhood leader or the Qatari diplomat?

To help answer that question, let’s take a look at Egypt. After the overthrow of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood president last year, Egypt began cracking down on the group. Brotherhood leaders were rounded up and jailed. Those who escaped fled to Turkey and… Great Britain, right? Did any of them publicize on facebook that the Egyptian government asked them to leave and that they were “honor(ing) the request”?

Quite the contrary. Brotherhood leaders in exile have pledged to return and have publicly expressed furious anger at the government of el-Sisi.

Take a look at another example from last year. Shortly after the ouster of Mursi, Shoebat.com relayed a report – and video that has since been taken down – that Qatar had expelled both Muslim Brotherhood spiritual leader Yusuf al-Qaradawi and Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal.

Did Qatar have an awakening? A complete change of heart?

Hardly. Like a criminal who quickly skips town after realizing the heat is on, Qatar needed to be portrayed a certain way. Have you noticed there hasn’t been any reporting about where al-Qaradawi has taken up residence since being ‘booted’ from Qatar last year?

That brings us back to the recent New York Times article:

Qatar has provided refuge for many Egyptian Brotherhood leaders fleeing the bloody crackdown against them that has been imposed since the military takeover in Cairo. And Qatar continues to provide a base of operations for Islamists close to the Brotherhood, including the influential Egyptian preacher Yusef al-Qaradawi…

How about Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal, who we were also told last year was persona non grata in Qatar?

Just earlier this month, it was reported that Meshaal met in Qatar with “two major funders of ISIS” (yes, that ISIS). One of them was none other than Yusuf al-Qaradawi.

According to the New York Times, Qaradawi is indeed still in Qatar. According to a report published by National Post last August, so is Meshaal:

Last weekend, during another bloody stretch in the increasingly brutal history of the Gaza Strip, Khaled Meshaal, the head of Hamas’s political wing, sat down for a TV interview in Doha, Qatar, where he lives in exile, reportedly in a luxury hotel.

This past June, the New York Post reported both men are still in Qatar as well.

It’s quite clear that any reports of Muslim Brotherhood leaders fleeing Qatar are for show as two of its most prominent leaders – Qaradawi and Meshaal – were reportedly expelled from there last year and continue to find safe harbor there now.

It’s worth noting that Qatar is where the five Taliban commanders were sent in exchange for Bowe Bergdahl.