A number of Egyptian TV hosts and journalists launched a campaign against Qatar over a documentary film produced by Al-Jazeera channel that discusses the compulsory military service in Egypt.

The Qatari-owned news channel has recently broadcast a trailer of a documentary entitled “Conscripts” that tells the story of Egyptian youth getting ready to serve out their compulsory military service. The film is scheduled to be aired on Sunday night.

Military service is compulsory in Egypt to all males who are within the age group 18-35, have no younger brothers and are both mentally and physically fit. They serve between 1-3 years based on their educational qualifications and standing.

After the airing of the trailer, several Egyptian news outlets attacked Qatar for “insulting the Egyptian Armed Forces”. The film reportedly features conscripts who give testimonies about the treatment they received during their service, and their in commercial and industrial projects owned by the military.

Veto news website published on Thursday a long report mocking the small numbers of the Qatari armed forces, while comparing it to the Egyptian army. The report also talked about the presence of a US military base in Qatar since 1990s, saying that the channel “revealed its real purpose to destroy the Arab region and dismantle their armies.”

Egyptian ties with Qatar have severely deteriorated following the army’s ouster of Mursi in July 2013, which followed mass protests against his rule as Qatar has repeatedly denounced Morsi’s removal.

Mursi is accused of espionage with Qatar for allegedly leaking important national security documents and information on the Egyptian Armed Forces to Qatar during his tenure.

Source: albawaba.com