Isn't Qatar and UAE part of each other?
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Chitchat Qatar
- Thread starter ckmpd
- Start date
The timing of the announcement (on the anniversary of the very significant Six Day War with Israel) is not a coincidence either.
There are many levels of issues - from Egypt to Iran to Qatar's own rift with Russia (leading subsequently to the abdication of the previous Emir for his son and the extremely powerful Sheikh Hamad, the former PM stepping down as well - much of the foreign policy initiatives of Qatar were shaped by the ambitions of this man) to the Syrian uprising and the recent war in Yemen.
Al Jazeera's banning in the other Gulf States is also not new.
SIngapore Airlines seconded pilots to Qatar Airways during the 2008 financial crisis and Keppel has had some juicy contracts in Qatar for port services (which the Qataris are close to cancelling because we've done a crap job according to them in elevating their port capabilities). SCDF also help institutionalise and train Qatar's own Civil Defence squad.
Interestingly, the young Emir, Tamim was in attendance at LKY's state funeral.
Here is the latest scoop from a respected member of UAE royalty - he states that the info in the piece is exclusive insider stuff:
QATAR’S GULF ALLIES HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF DOHA’S BROKEN PROMISES
BY SULTAN SOOUD AL-QASSEMI ON 6/5/17 AT 11:08 AM
Citizens of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states woke up on Monday morning to what is the most severe crisis in the regional block’s 38 year history to date. In a closely coordinated series of statements, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE, along with Egypt, announced the severing of ties with the peninsular state of Qatar.
This is by no means the first disagreement the Gulf States have had with Qatar. For many years Al Jazeera has been a bone of contention for the Gulf States and Egypt, even before its heyday of rolling news coverage during the Arab Spring.
In September 2002 Saudi Arabia recalled its ambassador to Qatar over what it regarded as critical coverage of the Saudi peace plan, which offered Israel the normalization of ties in exchange for peace with the Palestinians.
In 2014 the very same three Gulf States withdrew their ambassadors from Qatar for “interfering in their internal affairs, jeopardizing regional security ” as well as supporting the Muslim Brotherhood. A mere fortnight before the Gulf Leaders Summit in 2014, Qatar acquiesced to a number of steps that placated the Gulf States and allowed the summit to take place as scheduled. These included the closing down of Al Jazeera Mubashir Misr, the 24 news channel that it had dedicated solely to Egypt and was accused by Cairo of inciting against the post Mohamed Morsi government.
This time, however, it is far more serious. Not only have these states withdrawn their ambassadors but they have also shut down their embassies and severed ties with Doha.
In what may be the most debilitating move, Qatar’s border with Saudi Arabia—which is its only land border —has been shut and all flights over Saudi and UAE airspace has been closed off to Qatar bound flights and Qatar Airways. Qatari citizens have been given two weeks to leave Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE and all travel by these countries citizens to Qatar is now prohibited.
But what do these Arab Gulf States want from Doha?
Judging from local newspapers the series of demands appears similar to the 2014 list—namely an end to Qatari “interference” in domestic politics—but this time the escalation has been so severe that is it unlikely to be resolved as easily.
Ultimately the three Gulf States do not feel that Qatar has lived up to its side of the agreement: that rather than ceasing the critical media coverage and the support of Islamist groups it has found other means to do so. It is likely that this time the Gulf States will demand the complete shuttering of the Al Jazeera TV Network before any mediation can take place. Additionally, the plug will have to be pulled on networks funded by Qatar such as Al Araby Al Jadeed (The New Arab), originally set up to compete with Al Jazeera and headed by former Arab Israeli politician Azmi Bishara.
Other Qatar backed networks that were accused of incitement on official Gulf TV channels include Al Quds Al Arabi (Arab Jerusalem) newspaper which was founded in London in 1989, online Arabic news portal Arabi 21, the London based website Middle East Eye, the Arabic version of Huffington Post which is headed by former Al Jazeera boss Waddah Khanfar and Al Khaleej Al Jadeed (the New Gulf).
The Gulf States and their Egyptian ally will also demand the expulsion of all Muslim Brotherhood leaders and their Hamas affiliate figures from Qatar, along with Azmi Bishara and Islamist writer Yasser Al-Za'atra. Other demands will include the sacking of Al Arab newspaper editor Abdullah Al Athba who despite his unceasing and vapid criticism of the UAE has remained on top of the country’s most important newspaper for years.
Other non-negotiable demands by the Gulf States that I have been informed of include the reigning in of the misuse of Qatari-linked charitable organisations that have also been criticised by US State Department, as well as the cessation of incitement against the Egyptian state in Qatari-linked media that has continued since the removal of President Morsi in 2013.
Finally, the three Gulf States are concerned that Qatar’s ties with their adversary Iran go far beyond economic interest (both states share a common gas field) at a time when a unified front should be maintained. It seems though the initial pressure has already somewhat worked on Qatar. Last week Doha deported Saudi activist Mohammed Al-Otaibi who arrived in Qatar in March, while a number of Hamas officials have left Qatar at the country’s request.
Qatar reacted to the diplomatic escalation by stating that the measures are “unjustified” and that the aim is “to impose guardianship on the state.” However it is difficult to see how the measures taken by the Gulf States will not have an adverse affect on residents of the state of Qatar as per the statement carried by the Qatar News Agency.
For starters Qatar imports over 90 percent of its food, and by one estimate about 40 percent of that comes from the its only land border, which is now closed. Within hours photos started circulating on social media of Qatari supermarket aisles that have been emptied by panicked shoppers. Furthermore Gulf media has hinted at an escalation of the dispute with Qatari commercial and trade ties being severed next.
One Gulf official I spoke to stressed that the sanctions will remain within international law.
“There is no Plan B,” he told me. Qatar must honour its commitments to its Gulf neighbours and “we will judge it by its action and no longer by its promises”.
It must de-escalate the media coverage and must sever ties with extremist groups including, but not only, the Muslim Brotherhood and groups in Yemen. “We are willing to wait a long time (until this is rectified),” the official said.
Judging by the Qatari reaction so far, it seems the Gulf States’ patience will be tested.
Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi is a UAE based writer and founder of the Barjeel Art Foundation.
Consider this perspective:
Analysis Qatar Crisis Explained: What Just Happened and Why It Messes Up Trump's Iran and ISIS Plans
The Qatar crisis also has an Israeli connection
The sudden breaking of diplomatic ties between Qatar and its neighbors Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt places a serious dilemma at the U.S. president's doorstep. Only three weeks ago, at a Gulf summit in Riyadh attended by Donald Trump on his first state visit, his people lavished praise on Qatar. Earlier, his defense secretary, James Mattis, declared that relations between Washington and Doha were good and would only get better.
Trump and his administration were pleased with the show of unity organized by the Saudis, who a year earlier had established the “Sunni coalition” designed to block Iran’s influence in the Middle East and combat terror. Qatar was a member of this coalition before Monday's great rift. The question now is whether the Saudis will want to leverage the huge investments they promised Trump – more than $300 billion for arms purchases and $40 billion for investing in U.S. infrastructure – to demand that Washington follow suit and add Qatar to its list of states supporting terror.
If that's their decision and Trump accedes to it, he'll also have to move the largest U.S. air base in the Middle East from Qatar, and probably to the UAE. But it’s too early to say this is the path the Saudis will follow, at least as long as their goal might be to preserve the Sunni coalition and return Qatar to the fold.
In any case, the rupture will have an immediate effect on Qatar’s economy because it includes the blocking of Egyptian and Gulf states’ airspace to Qatari planes. This will sting Qatar Airways, but also overland imports.
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Unlike 2014, when Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain only withdrew their ambassadors without imposing economic sanctions, the current move is a new one for Gulf states against a sister state or a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council. So far, sanctions and the breaking off of relations by Arab states have only been imposed on Saddam Hussein's Iraq or Syria, which has been suspended from the Arab League.
Monday's bombshell came amid reports saying Qatar's ruler, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, objected to Washington's and the Gulf states' hostility toward Iran, which he considered “a great state that contributes to regional stability.” He also allegedly said that Hamas, Hezbollah and the Muslim Brotherhood weren't terrorist organizations but rather resistance movements.
Qatar denies that the emir made that statement and claims that hackers broke into the Qatari news agency's website and planted those quotes. According to Qatari spokesmen and commentators, this new kind of cyberwar strives to tarnish Qatar’s name. They say it was a conspiracy between the UAE and a pro-Israel lobby working in Washington alongside former administration officials. It allegedly stems from Qatari disputes with Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Meanwhile, leaked emails show an exchange between the UAE ambassador in Washington, Yousef al-Otaiba, and the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a research institute founded by and funded in part by Sheldon Adelson, Edgar Bronfman and other Jewish business leaders. The neoconservative think tank was established after 9/11 and enjoys excellent relations with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top people in the Israeli government and military.
According to the leaked emails, the UAE and the think tank exchanged ideas on handling Qatar due to its support of Hamas and Iran. Al-Otaiba, considered one of the most influential and well-respected diplomats in Washington, is fostering strong links with Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law. He reportedly also has connections with Israel’s ambassador in Washington, Ron Dermer.
These leaks are an attempt to deflect the blame from Qatar to the UAE, which is described as coordinating its actions with Israel or at least with a pro-Israel lobby supported by Israel.
These new revelations are pushing the U.S. administration into a less-familiar arena in which the balance of power among the Gulf states could dictate a faulty policy. The administration realizes that relying exclusively on Saudi Arabia or the UAE as countries that can advance American policies in the region could damage the Arab coalition against Iran or the war on terror. It should be noted that Kuwait and Oman aren't part of the anti-Qatar front, and that Egyptian-Saudi relations are also tense due to what is termed in Egypt a Saudi monopoly on the management of regional policies.
The question now is who could mediate between Qatar on one side and Saudi Arabia and the UAE on the other, and what concessions Qatar would agree to in order to return to the fold. Kuwait tried to mediate between them this week but to no avail so far.
It seems that this time Saudi Arabia won't be satisfied with the removal of Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood from Qatar. It will also seek serious commitments on the operations of Al Jazeera, Qatar's most important political lever, as well as clear declarations on Iran. At this point it’s hard to believe that Qatar will agree to muzzle Al Jazeera or dissociate itself from Iran, with which it co-owns the largest natural gas field in the world.
The Qatar-Iran Gas Field Behind the Diplomatic War in the Middle East
Qatargas, the world's largest exporter of liquefied natural gas, reassures Japan, the world's largest importer, that Gulf state rift will not effect supply
Jun 05, 2017 12:40 PM
Japan's JERA Co, the world's biggest buyer of liquefied natural*gas, said on Monday it has been informed by*Qatargas*that there will be no impact on LNG supplies after several Middle East countries cut ties with*Qatar.
There would be "no conceivable impact on LNG supplies" from the rift, JERA said in a statement, adding "this is also a geopolitical issue in the Middle East and there is a possibility that this could be closely related to the energy market, so we will continue to keep watch on the movements."
Qatar*is the world's biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas, while Japan is the largest importer, taking in about one-third of global shipments.
Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain severed their ties with*Qatar*on Monday, accusing it of supporting terrorism, opening up the worst rift in years among some of the most powerful states in the Arab world.
Qatar-Iran cooperation
In April 2017, Qatar lifted a self-imposed ban on developing the world's biggest natural gas in an attempt to stave off an expected rise in competition.
At the time the LNG market was undergoing huge changes as the biggest ever flood of new supply hit the market, with volumes coming mainly from the United States and Australia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin also was aiming to become the world's largest LNG producer.
Qatar had declared a moratorium in 2005 on the development of the North Field, which it shares with Iran, to give Doha time to study the impact on the reservoir from a rapid rise in output.
The flurry of liquified natural gas production has resulted in global installed LNG capacity of over 300 million tons a year, while only around 268 million tons of LNG were traded in 2016, Thomson Reuters data shows.
Iran's top priority
Iran, which suffers severe domestic gas shortages, has made a rapid increase in production from South Pars a top priority and signed a preliminary deal with France's Total in November 2016 to develop its South Pars II project.
Iran's oil minister also vowed this March to ramp up production of its part of the shared field.
"Iran's gas production in South Pars can exceed Qatar's before the end of new Iranian year [ending March 20, 2018]," Zanganeh was quoted as saying by Tasnim news agency.
Total was the first Western energy company to sign a major deal with Tehran since the lifting of international sanctions.
Qatar Petroleum's Chief Executive Saad al-Kaabi*said the decision to lift the moratorium was not prompted by Iran's plan to develop its part of the shared field.
"What we are doing today is something completely new and we will in future of course ... share information on this with them [Iran]."
The economy of Qatar, a future World Cup host with a population of 2.6 million, has been pressured by the global oil slump and in 2015 QP dismissed thousands of workers and has earmarked a number of assets for divestment.
QP is merging two LNG divisions, Qatargas and RasGas, to save hundreds of millions of dollars.
There was also the recent interception in Iraq of the world's largest ransom payment (in cash and black bags) - the paying of this ransom apparently triggered the attack on the busses carrying Shia evacuees from Fua and Kefraya on 15 April by a suicide bomber in a vehicle, which exploded, killing 126 people, including 68 children and wounding a further 300 - as some militias were pissed that they did not get a cut.
Iraq considers next move after intercepting 'world's largest' ransom for kidnapped Qataris
Wednesday 26 April 2017 20:43 BST
Officials at Baghdad International Airport became suspicious earlier this month when their X-ray machines could not see into 23 large bags unloaded from a Qatari plane, producing only a black image because the contents were wrapped in a special material impenetrable to detecting devices. They were further amazed when they opened the bags to discover that they contained hundreds of millions of dollars and euros in cash worth a total of $500m (£389m), says an Iraqi source.
It is now clear that the money was ransom for 24 Qataris, several of them leading members of the Qatari royal al-Thani family, and two Saudis who had been hunting with falcons with official permission in supposedly safe southern Iraq when they were kidnapped 16 months ago by a Shia militia task force. A deal to get them released has been complicated by negotiations involving Qatar and Iran as well as Shia and Sunni militias over the simultaneous evacuation of people long besieged in four towns, two Shia and two Sunni, in northern and southern Syria respectively.
The extraordinary story of the $500m ransom - perhaps the biggest ransom ever in history – and the release of the Qatari royalty is revealed in a confidential document sent by Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and obtained exclusively by The Independent. In a special report dated 22 April, six days after the episode at the airport, he gives senior members of his ruling Dawa Party a detail account of actions by his government, Qatar and other players inside and outside Iraq though the precise identity of several is left vague.
Mr Abadi says that Qatar had requested the Iraqi government for permission to land an aircraft at Baghdad International Airport on 15 April on the understanding that it would take on board freed members of the kidnapped hunting party. But he says the airport officials were “surprised that there were 23 large heavy bags that appeared without prior notice or approval”. When these were put in the X-ray machine “the image appeared black”, which meant that whatever was inside was wrapped in a special impenetrable material.
Those on board the plane included the Qatari ambassador to Iraq and a special envoy from the Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, but they had not asked for the bags to be given diplomatic immunity. They apparently had not done so because they believed that the kidnappers or their emissaries had their own people at the airport who would take charge of the money.
Mr Abadi says that even before opening the bags Iraqi officials had become convinced, through overhearing the conversation of the Qataris, that they contained money. What they did not know was how much, so when they finally searched them and counted the cash they were astonished to discover that the amount totalled “hundreds of millions of dollars and euros”. By then the Iraqi government had been told, presumably by the Qataris, that the cash was a ransom payment. But its officials still confiscated it since their government had not been informed about what was going on and they were chary of seeing such a large sum paid to a militia that would inevitably be empowered by a massive cash injection. “Hundreds of millions for armed groups? Is this acceptable?” Mr Abadi asked later at a press conference.
The militia widely reported to have carried out the original kidnapping of the hunting party in Iraq’s southern Muthanna proince in December 2015 was the powerful Iranian-supported movement known as Ketaeb Hezbollah, which is distinct from Lebanese Hezbollah. But all Iraqi and Syrian militias both Shia and Sunni have links, often undeclared and unprovable but well known to most Iraqis and Syrians, to local politicians, political parties and foreign states. Sometimes, the militias are simple proxies of others but usually the relationship is more complex with a degree of mutual dependence.
Mr Abadi hints at this when he mentions in his report that, as news of the confiscation of the money at the airport spread in Baghdad, “third parties intervened strongly, some from the highest levels” and others threatened to use armed force. The Qatari envoy and the Qatari ambassador who had arrived on the plane had a bitter dispute over what had gone wrong. What is not clear is why the kidnappers released their hostages on 21 April, though they had not yet received the ransom, unless they were confident that once it was in Baghdad airport it was as good as in their hands or replacement funds had been sent by Qatar. Mr Abadi says that the Qataris had been led to believe that “the sponsors of the kidnappers” had effective control of the airport and of the security forces there.
A second strong reason for the freeing of the hostages going ahead is that their release was part of a regional deal involving Qatar, Iran, Jabhat al-Nusra, formerly the al-Qaeda representative in Syria, as well as various Shia militias. This relates to the fate of two Shia towns, Fua and Kefraya, with a combined population of 40,000, that have long been under siege by Sunni Arab militia forces including al-Nusra in Idlib province in northern Syria, and two Sunni towns, Madaya and Zabadani west of Damascus, that are besieged by pro-Syrian government forces including Lebanese Hezbollah. Under an agreement all four towns were to see simultaneous and linked evacuations as a result of stop-go negotiations that have been going on for several years. On the day of the hunters’ release last Friday, an Iraqi source told AFP “the Qataris are now in Haider al-Abadi’s office following a deal between Jabhat al-Nusra and the kidnappers.”
The release of the hostages had earlier been stalled when busses carrying Shia evacuees from Fua and Kefraya were attacked on 15 April by a suicide bomber in a vehicle, which exploded, killing 126 people, including 68 children and wounding a further 300. This was the same day that the Qatari plane landed in Baghdad. Given that all militias in Syria and Iraq are highly criminalised, the money would presumably have to be shared out among all of those involved as well as with some of their outside sponsors.
Mr Abadi is clearly angry at the way in which Iraq has been caught up in the complicated manoeuvres of foreign powers like Qatar, Iran, Lebanese Hezbollah and a variety of Iraqi and Syrian private armies. He says that “allowing [the Qataris] to deliver big money to armed groups in Iraq, and perhaps also to terrorist groups is to fuel the war.”
The affair has not ended since the Iraqi government now has half a billion dollars whom very violent paramilitary groups and their sponsors were expecting to be paid to them. These are often described as militias, though in fact they are heavily-equipped private armies who pose as community defenders, but are frequently guns-for-hire for foreign states and for their own enrichment. They will not resign themselves easily to the loss of the contents of the 23 bags confiscated at Baghdad airport.
As for the relationship with Russia, here is a story that has been denied but remoured to be true (and a major factor in Sheikh Hamad stepping down as PM):
Ta-ta Qatar? A storm in a media teacup
Published time: 7 Feb, 2012 20:15 Edited time: 8 Feb, 2012 07:01
Better keep checking your Google map the next couple of days just to see if Qatar continues to occupy its customary place on the Persian Gulf - because if certain media reports are to be believed, the chances of this happening seem decidedly slim!
However, it seems that doomsday for Doha was merely a scenario brewed up by a couple of Arab media outlets.
First, an Algerian news agency reported a contentious dialogue that supposedly took place between Russia’s Ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, and the Qatari prime minister in New York last week.
According to the Algerian news agency ISP, while discussing the upcoming UN vote with Churkin on Saturday, Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani told him:“I warn Russia, if Moscow uses the veto and does not support the UN’s resolution, it will lose all the Arab countries.”
“If you talk to me like that, there will be no Qatar today,” Churkin is alleged to have replied in a low voice according to the agency, which did not quote any source for this intriguing conversation.
No one was more surprised by the accusations levelled at him than the Russian envoy himself. The reported conversation could have become a real-life scenario for a pure thriller ‘based on a true story’ with a Hollywood star playing Churkin. But not this time, it seems.
“This is a very bizarre report clearly aimed at trying to create further problems in our relations with Qatar and with the Arab League,” Churkin said in an interview with RT.
“There is disinformation, there is a lie and there is a blatant lie. One has to come up with some different, stronger, description in order to characterize this kind of thing,” he continued.
“Even if I wanted to make some threats to the Qatari prime minister, which I had no intention of doing, that would not have been a good opportunity because you don’t say such things in the presence of other ambassadors, Arab League representatives and 20 other people,” Churkin pointed out.
On the contrary, the conversation was “very polite, as usual” and was related exclusively to the draft resolution, Churkin remarked, adding that he had not met with Sheikh Hamad in private.
So it seems that, contrary to some reports, Qatar will still be around this time next week after all.
So, there was one story made up by one news outlets. This was in turn quoted by a huge number of media resources all over the world. It created a stir with tens of thousands sharing the story online (in particular, RT received a number of demands from our viewers on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to post the video “where Churkin threatens to destroy Qatar”). It shows the story did have an effect. And as one may say: ‘the bigger the lie, the more it will be believed.’
What is really hard to say is how this would-be news story might have developed in some media tomorrow. Media sometimes exaggerate things – it would not be surprising if some news outlets had already got a picture of Churkin riding a tank into Qatar and leading an invasion. Who knows what they might have come up with?
There are many levels of issues - from Egypt to Iran to Qatar's own rift with Russia (leading subsequently to the abdication of the previous Emir for his son and the extremely powerful Sheikh Hamad, the former PM stepping down as well - much of the foreign policy initiatives of Qatar were shaped by the ambitions of this man) to the Syrian uprising and the recent war in Yemen.
Al Jazeera's banning in the other Gulf States is also not new.
SIngapore Airlines seconded pilots to Qatar Airways during the 2008 financial crisis and Keppel has had some juicy contracts in Qatar for port services (which the Qataris are close to cancelling because we've done a crap job according to them in elevating their port capabilities). SCDF also help institutionalise and train Qatar's own Civil Defence squad.
Interestingly, the young Emir, Tamim was in attendance at LKY's state funeral.
Here is the latest scoop from a respected member of UAE royalty - he states that the info in the piece is exclusive insider stuff:
QATAR’S GULF ALLIES HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF DOHA’S BROKEN PROMISES
BY SULTAN SOOUD AL-QASSEMI ON 6/5/17 AT 11:08 AM
Citizens of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states woke up on Monday morning to what is the most severe crisis in the regional block’s 38 year history to date. In a closely coordinated series of statements, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE, along with Egypt, announced the severing of ties with the peninsular state of Qatar.
This is by no means the first disagreement the Gulf States have had with Qatar. For many years Al Jazeera has been a bone of contention for the Gulf States and Egypt, even before its heyday of rolling news coverage during the Arab Spring.
In September 2002 Saudi Arabia recalled its ambassador to Qatar over what it regarded as critical coverage of the Saudi peace plan, which offered Israel the normalization of ties in exchange for peace with the Palestinians.
In 2014 the very same three Gulf States withdrew their ambassadors from Qatar for “interfering in their internal affairs, jeopardizing regional security ” as well as supporting the Muslim Brotherhood. A mere fortnight before the Gulf Leaders Summit in 2014, Qatar acquiesced to a number of steps that placated the Gulf States and allowed the summit to take place as scheduled. These included the closing down of Al Jazeera Mubashir Misr, the 24 news channel that it had dedicated solely to Egypt and was accused by Cairo of inciting against the post Mohamed Morsi government.
This time, however, it is far more serious. Not only have these states withdrawn their ambassadors but they have also shut down their embassies and severed ties with Doha.
In what may be the most debilitating move, Qatar’s border with Saudi Arabia—which is its only land border —has been shut and all flights over Saudi and UAE airspace has been closed off to Qatar bound flights and Qatar Airways. Qatari citizens have been given two weeks to leave Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE and all travel by these countries citizens to Qatar is now prohibited.
But what do these Arab Gulf States want from Doha?
Judging from local newspapers the series of demands appears similar to the 2014 list—namely an end to Qatari “interference” in domestic politics—but this time the escalation has been so severe that is it unlikely to be resolved as easily.
Ultimately the three Gulf States do not feel that Qatar has lived up to its side of the agreement: that rather than ceasing the critical media coverage and the support of Islamist groups it has found other means to do so. It is likely that this time the Gulf States will demand the complete shuttering of the Al Jazeera TV Network before any mediation can take place. Additionally, the plug will have to be pulled on networks funded by Qatar such as Al Araby Al Jadeed (The New Arab), originally set up to compete with Al Jazeera and headed by former Arab Israeli politician Azmi Bishara.
Other Qatar backed networks that were accused of incitement on official Gulf TV channels include Al Quds Al Arabi (Arab Jerusalem) newspaper which was founded in London in 1989, online Arabic news portal Arabi 21, the London based website Middle East Eye, the Arabic version of Huffington Post which is headed by former Al Jazeera boss Waddah Khanfar and Al Khaleej Al Jadeed (the New Gulf).
The Gulf States and their Egyptian ally will also demand the expulsion of all Muslim Brotherhood leaders and their Hamas affiliate figures from Qatar, along with Azmi Bishara and Islamist writer Yasser Al-Za'atra. Other demands will include the sacking of Al Arab newspaper editor Abdullah Al Athba who despite his unceasing and vapid criticism of the UAE has remained on top of the country’s most important newspaper for years.
Other non-negotiable demands by the Gulf States that I have been informed of include the reigning in of the misuse of Qatari-linked charitable organisations that have also been criticised by US State Department, as well as the cessation of incitement against the Egyptian state in Qatari-linked media that has continued since the removal of President Morsi in 2013.
Finally, the three Gulf States are concerned that Qatar’s ties with their adversary Iran go far beyond economic interest (both states share a common gas field) at a time when a unified front should be maintained. It seems though the initial pressure has already somewhat worked on Qatar. Last week Doha deported Saudi activist Mohammed Al-Otaibi who arrived in Qatar in March, while a number of Hamas officials have left Qatar at the country’s request.
Qatar reacted to the diplomatic escalation by stating that the measures are “unjustified” and that the aim is “to impose guardianship on the state.” However it is difficult to see how the measures taken by the Gulf States will not have an adverse affect on residents of the state of Qatar as per the statement carried by the Qatar News Agency.
For starters Qatar imports over 90 percent of its food, and by one estimate about 40 percent of that comes from the its only land border, which is now closed. Within hours photos started circulating on social media of Qatari supermarket aisles that have been emptied by panicked shoppers. Furthermore Gulf media has hinted at an escalation of the dispute with Qatari commercial and trade ties being severed next.
One Gulf official I spoke to stressed that the sanctions will remain within international law.
“There is no Plan B,” he told me. Qatar must honour its commitments to its Gulf neighbours and “we will judge it by its action and no longer by its promises”.
It must de-escalate the media coverage and must sever ties with extremist groups including, but not only, the Muslim Brotherhood and groups in Yemen. “We are willing to wait a long time (until this is rectified),” the official said.
Judging by the Qatari reaction so far, it seems the Gulf States’ patience will be tested.
Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi is a UAE based writer and founder of the Barjeel Art Foundation.
Consider this perspective:
Analysis Qatar Crisis Explained: What Just Happened and Why It Messes Up Trump's Iran and ISIS Plans
The Qatar crisis also has an Israeli connection
The sudden breaking of diplomatic ties between Qatar and its neighbors Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt places a serious dilemma at the U.S. president's doorstep. Only three weeks ago, at a Gulf summit in Riyadh attended by Donald Trump on his first state visit, his people lavished praise on Qatar. Earlier, his defense secretary, James Mattis, declared that relations between Washington and Doha were good and would only get better.
Trump and his administration were pleased with the show of unity organized by the Saudis, who a year earlier had established the “Sunni coalition” designed to block Iran’s influence in the Middle East and combat terror. Qatar was a member of this coalition before Monday's great rift. The question now is whether the Saudis will want to leverage the huge investments they promised Trump – more than $300 billion for arms purchases and $40 billion for investing in U.S. infrastructure – to demand that Washington follow suit and add Qatar to its list of states supporting terror.
If that's their decision and Trump accedes to it, he'll also have to move the largest U.S. air base in the Middle East from Qatar, and probably to the UAE. But it’s too early to say this is the path the Saudis will follow, at least as long as their goal might be to preserve the Sunni coalition and return Qatar to the fold.
In any case, the rupture will have an immediate effect on Qatar’s economy because it includes the blocking of Egyptian and Gulf states’ airspace to Qatari planes. This will sting Qatar Airways, but also overland imports.
Keep updated: Sign up to our newsletter
Unlike 2014, when Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain only withdrew their ambassadors without imposing economic sanctions, the current move is a new one for Gulf states against a sister state or a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council. So far, sanctions and the breaking off of relations by Arab states have only been imposed on Saddam Hussein's Iraq or Syria, which has been suspended from the Arab League.
Monday's bombshell came amid reports saying Qatar's ruler, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, objected to Washington's and the Gulf states' hostility toward Iran, which he considered “a great state that contributes to regional stability.” He also allegedly said that Hamas, Hezbollah and the Muslim Brotherhood weren't terrorist organizations but rather resistance movements.
Qatar denies that the emir made that statement and claims that hackers broke into the Qatari news agency's website and planted those quotes. According to Qatari spokesmen and commentators, this new kind of cyberwar strives to tarnish Qatar’s name. They say it was a conspiracy between the UAE and a pro-Israel lobby working in Washington alongside former administration officials. It allegedly stems from Qatari disputes with Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Meanwhile, leaked emails show an exchange between the UAE ambassador in Washington, Yousef al-Otaiba, and the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a research institute founded by and funded in part by Sheldon Adelson, Edgar Bronfman and other Jewish business leaders. The neoconservative think tank was established after 9/11 and enjoys excellent relations with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top people in the Israeli government and military.
According to the leaked emails, the UAE and the think tank exchanged ideas on handling Qatar due to its support of Hamas and Iran. Al-Otaiba, considered one of the most influential and well-respected diplomats in Washington, is fostering strong links with Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law. He reportedly also has connections with Israel’s ambassador in Washington, Ron Dermer.
These leaks are an attempt to deflect the blame from Qatar to the UAE, which is described as coordinating its actions with Israel or at least with a pro-Israel lobby supported by Israel.
These new revelations are pushing the U.S. administration into a less-familiar arena in which the balance of power among the Gulf states could dictate a faulty policy. The administration realizes that relying exclusively on Saudi Arabia or the UAE as countries that can advance American policies in the region could damage the Arab coalition against Iran or the war on terror. It should be noted that Kuwait and Oman aren't part of the anti-Qatar front, and that Egyptian-Saudi relations are also tense due to what is termed in Egypt a Saudi monopoly on the management of regional policies.
The question now is who could mediate between Qatar on one side and Saudi Arabia and the UAE on the other, and what concessions Qatar would agree to in order to return to the fold. Kuwait tried to mediate between them this week but to no avail so far.
It seems that this time Saudi Arabia won't be satisfied with the removal of Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood from Qatar. It will also seek serious commitments on the operations of Al Jazeera, Qatar's most important political lever, as well as clear declarations on Iran. At this point it’s hard to believe that Qatar will agree to muzzle Al Jazeera or dissociate itself from Iran, with which it co-owns the largest natural gas field in the world.
The Qatar-Iran Gas Field Behind the Diplomatic War in the Middle East
Qatargas, the world's largest exporter of liquefied natural gas, reassures Japan, the world's largest importer, that Gulf state rift will not effect supply
Jun 05, 2017 12:40 PM
Japan's JERA Co, the world's biggest buyer of liquefied natural*gas, said on Monday it has been informed by*Qatargas*that there will be no impact on LNG supplies after several Middle East countries cut ties with*Qatar.
There would be "no conceivable impact on LNG supplies" from the rift, JERA said in a statement, adding "this is also a geopolitical issue in the Middle East and there is a possibility that this could be closely related to the energy market, so we will continue to keep watch on the movements."
Qatar*is the world's biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas, while Japan is the largest importer, taking in about one-third of global shipments.
Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain severed their ties with*Qatar*on Monday, accusing it of supporting terrorism, opening up the worst rift in years among some of the most powerful states in the Arab world.
Qatar-Iran cooperation
In April 2017, Qatar lifted a self-imposed ban on developing the world's biggest natural gas in an attempt to stave off an expected rise in competition.
At the time the LNG market was undergoing huge changes as the biggest ever flood of new supply hit the market, with volumes coming mainly from the United States and Australia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin also was aiming to become the world's largest LNG producer.
Qatar had declared a moratorium in 2005 on the development of the North Field, which it shares with Iran, to give Doha time to study the impact on the reservoir from a rapid rise in output.
The flurry of liquified natural gas production has resulted in global installed LNG capacity of over 300 million tons a year, while only around 268 million tons of LNG were traded in 2016, Thomson Reuters data shows.
Iran's top priority
Iran, which suffers severe domestic gas shortages, has made a rapid increase in production from South Pars a top priority and signed a preliminary deal with France's Total in November 2016 to develop its South Pars II project.
Iran's oil minister also vowed this March to ramp up production of its part of the shared field.
"Iran's gas production in South Pars can exceed Qatar's before the end of new Iranian year [ending March 20, 2018]," Zanganeh was quoted as saying by Tasnim news agency.
Total was the first Western energy company to sign a major deal with Tehran since the lifting of international sanctions.
Qatar Petroleum's Chief Executive Saad al-Kaabi*said the decision to lift the moratorium was not prompted by Iran's plan to develop its part of the shared field.
"What we are doing today is something completely new and we will in future of course ... share information on this with them [Iran]."
The economy of Qatar, a future World Cup host with a population of 2.6 million, has been pressured by the global oil slump and in 2015 QP dismissed thousands of workers and has earmarked a number of assets for divestment.
QP is merging two LNG divisions, Qatargas and RasGas, to save hundreds of millions of dollars.
There was also the recent interception in Iraq of the world's largest ransom payment (in cash and black bags) - the paying of this ransom apparently triggered the attack on the busses carrying Shia evacuees from Fua and Kefraya on 15 April by a suicide bomber in a vehicle, which exploded, killing 126 people, including 68 children and wounding a further 300 - as some militias were pissed that they did not get a cut.
Iraq considers next move after intercepting 'world's largest' ransom for kidnapped Qataris
Wednesday 26 April 2017 20:43 BST
Officials at Baghdad International Airport became suspicious earlier this month when their X-ray machines could not see into 23 large bags unloaded from a Qatari plane, producing only a black image because the contents were wrapped in a special material impenetrable to detecting devices. They were further amazed when they opened the bags to discover that they contained hundreds of millions of dollars and euros in cash worth a total of $500m (£389m), says an Iraqi source.
It is now clear that the money was ransom for 24 Qataris, several of them leading members of the Qatari royal al-Thani family, and two Saudis who had been hunting with falcons with official permission in supposedly safe southern Iraq when they were kidnapped 16 months ago by a Shia militia task force. A deal to get them released has been complicated by negotiations involving Qatar and Iran as well as Shia and Sunni militias over the simultaneous evacuation of people long besieged in four towns, two Shia and two Sunni, in northern and southern Syria respectively.
The extraordinary story of the $500m ransom - perhaps the biggest ransom ever in history – and the release of the Qatari royalty is revealed in a confidential document sent by Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and obtained exclusively by The Independent. In a special report dated 22 April, six days after the episode at the airport, he gives senior members of his ruling Dawa Party a detail account of actions by his government, Qatar and other players inside and outside Iraq though the precise identity of several is left vague.
Mr Abadi says that Qatar had requested the Iraqi government for permission to land an aircraft at Baghdad International Airport on 15 April on the understanding that it would take on board freed members of the kidnapped hunting party. But he says the airport officials were “surprised that there were 23 large heavy bags that appeared without prior notice or approval”. When these were put in the X-ray machine “the image appeared black”, which meant that whatever was inside was wrapped in a special impenetrable material.
Those on board the plane included the Qatari ambassador to Iraq and a special envoy from the Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, but they had not asked for the bags to be given diplomatic immunity. They apparently had not done so because they believed that the kidnappers or their emissaries had their own people at the airport who would take charge of the money.
Mr Abadi says that even before opening the bags Iraqi officials had become convinced, through overhearing the conversation of the Qataris, that they contained money. What they did not know was how much, so when they finally searched them and counted the cash they were astonished to discover that the amount totalled “hundreds of millions of dollars and euros”. By then the Iraqi government had been told, presumably by the Qataris, that the cash was a ransom payment. But its officials still confiscated it since their government had not been informed about what was going on and they were chary of seeing such a large sum paid to a militia that would inevitably be empowered by a massive cash injection. “Hundreds of millions for armed groups? Is this acceptable?” Mr Abadi asked later at a press conference.
The militia widely reported to have carried out the original kidnapping of the hunting party in Iraq’s southern Muthanna proince in December 2015 was the powerful Iranian-supported movement known as Ketaeb Hezbollah, which is distinct from Lebanese Hezbollah. But all Iraqi and Syrian militias both Shia and Sunni have links, often undeclared and unprovable but well known to most Iraqis and Syrians, to local politicians, political parties and foreign states. Sometimes, the militias are simple proxies of others but usually the relationship is more complex with a degree of mutual dependence.
Mr Abadi hints at this when he mentions in his report that, as news of the confiscation of the money at the airport spread in Baghdad, “third parties intervened strongly, some from the highest levels” and others threatened to use armed force. The Qatari envoy and the Qatari ambassador who had arrived on the plane had a bitter dispute over what had gone wrong. What is not clear is why the kidnappers released their hostages on 21 April, though they had not yet received the ransom, unless they were confident that once it was in Baghdad airport it was as good as in their hands or replacement funds had been sent by Qatar. Mr Abadi says that the Qataris had been led to believe that “the sponsors of the kidnappers” had effective control of the airport and of the security forces there.
A second strong reason for the freeing of the hostages going ahead is that their release was part of a regional deal involving Qatar, Iran, Jabhat al-Nusra, formerly the al-Qaeda representative in Syria, as well as various Shia militias. This relates to the fate of two Shia towns, Fua and Kefraya, with a combined population of 40,000, that have long been under siege by Sunni Arab militia forces including al-Nusra in Idlib province in northern Syria, and two Sunni towns, Madaya and Zabadani west of Damascus, that are besieged by pro-Syrian government forces including Lebanese Hezbollah. Under an agreement all four towns were to see simultaneous and linked evacuations as a result of stop-go negotiations that have been going on for several years. On the day of the hunters’ release last Friday, an Iraqi source told AFP “the Qataris are now in Haider al-Abadi’s office following a deal between Jabhat al-Nusra and the kidnappers.”
The release of the hostages had earlier been stalled when busses carrying Shia evacuees from Fua and Kefraya were attacked on 15 April by a suicide bomber in a vehicle, which exploded, killing 126 people, including 68 children and wounding a further 300. This was the same day that the Qatari plane landed in Baghdad. Given that all militias in Syria and Iraq are highly criminalised, the money would presumably have to be shared out among all of those involved as well as with some of their outside sponsors.
Mr Abadi is clearly angry at the way in which Iraq has been caught up in the complicated manoeuvres of foreign powers like Qatar, Iran, Lebanese Hezbollah and a variety of Iraqi and Syrian private armies. He says that “allowing [the Qataris] to deliver big money to armed groups in Iraq, and perhaps also to terrorist groups is to fuel the war.”
The affair has not ended since the Iraqi government now has half a billion dollars whom very violent paramilitary groups and their sponsors were expecting to be paid to them. These are often described as militias, though in fact they are heavily-equipped private armies who pose as community defenders, but are frequently guns-for-hire for foreign states and for their own enrichment. They will not resign themselves easily to the loss of the contents of the 23 bags confiscated at Baghdad airport.
As for the relationship with Russia, here is a story that has been denied but remoured to be true (and a major factor in Sheikh Hamad stepping down as PM):
Ta-ta Qatar? A storm in a media teacup
Published time: 7 Feb, 2012 20:15 Edited time: 8 Feb, 2012 07:01
Better keep checking your Google map the next couple of days just to see if Qatar continues to occupy its customary place on the Persian Gulf - because if certain media reports are to be believed, the chances of this happening seem decidedly slim!
However, it seems that doomsday for Doha was merely a scenario brewed up by a couple of Arab media outlets.
First, an Algerian news agency reported a contentious dialogue that supposedly took place between Russia’s Ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, and the Qatari prime minister in New York last week.
According to the Algerian news agency ISP, while discussing the upcoming UN vote with Churkin on Saturday, Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani told him:“I warn Russia, if Moscow uses the veto and does not support the UN’s resolution, it will lose all the Arab countries.”
“If you talk to me like that, there will be no Qatar today,” Churkin is alleged to have replied in a low voice according to the agency, which did not quote any source for this intriguing conversation.
No one was more surprised by the accusations levelled at him than the Russian envoy himself. The reported conversation could have become a real-life scenario for a pure thriller ‘based on a true story’ with a Hollywood star playing Churkin. But not this time, it seems.
“This is a very bizarre report clearly aimed at trying to create further problems in our relations with Qatar and with the Arab League,” Churkin said in an interview with RT.
“There is disinformation, there is a lie and there is a blatant lie. One has to come up with some different, stronger, description in order to characterize this kind of thing,” he continued.
“Even if I wanted to make some threats to the Qatari prime minister, which I had no intention of doing, that would not have been a good opportunity because you don’t say such things in the presence of other ambassadors, Arab League representatives and 20 other people,” Churkin pointed out.
On the contrary, the conversation was “very polite, as usual” and was related exclusively to the draft resolution, Churkin remarked, adding that he had not met with Sheikh Hamad in private.
So it seems that, contrary to some reports, Qatar will still be around this time next week after all.
So, there was one story made up by one news outlets. This was in turn quoted by a huge number of media resources all over the world. It created a stir with tens of thousands sharing the story online (in particular, RT received a number of demands from our viewers on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to post the video “where Churkin threatens to destroy Qatar”). It shows the story did have an effect. And as one may say: ‘the bigger the lie, the more it will be believed.’
What is really hard to say is how this would-be news story might have developed in some media tomorrow. Media sometimes exaggerate things – it would not be surprising if some news outlets had already got a picture of Churkin riding a tank into Qatar and leading an invasion. Who knows what they might have come up with?
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Qatar was given a reprieve in 2014, after the first recall of the diplomats. It does look like the Saudis and their lot are going for the removal of the Qatari ruler by a more acceptable member of the Royal family. The Qatari are also tied to multiple investigations in a number of countries over their sovereign fund and the channelling of funds to questionable entities. They must have thought the largest US base in the Middle East was sufficient collateral to do things their way. They already have been put on notice for their involvement in the futile attempt in Bahrain during the Arab Spring.
They r now fasting n nothing better to do ? Perhaps the sand gets to their heads. To think the rest just follows Saudi ass speaks of the brains or the lack of.
Saudi is pot calling kettle black, their schools r sprouting terrorists Abd they r the most backward Muslim country after Taliban. Egypt was up till recently ruled by Muslim Brotherhood.
Saudi is pot calling kettle black, their schools r sprouting terrorists Abd they r the most backward Muslim country after Taliban. Egypt was up till recently ruled by Muslim Brotherhood.
Qatar row: What's caused the fall-out between Gulf neighbours?
By Dr David Roberts
King's College, London
On Monday 5 June 2017, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, the UAE, and the internationally recognised Yemeni government severed their diplomatic relations with Qatar, accusing Doha of supporting terrorism.
In addition, the states announced that they were suspending air, sea, and land transport with Qatar, while Qatari citizens are required to return home within two weeks.
Qatar's support of the Saudi and UAE-led operations in Yemen is also suspended.
This might seem familiar. These states (aside from Yemen) withdrew their diplomats from Doha in 2014 over a similar set of concerns. That spat was resolved within nine months. But the core issues remain.
On this occasion, though similar motives fuel the dispute, the fact that Qatar's land border with Saudi Arabia - its only land crossing - will be suspended shows a severe escalation, given just how critical this border is for Qatar's imports, including food.
Recent escalation
Reports emerged in late May 2017 of a speech given by the Qatari Emir, Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, where he was purported to have criticised America, offered support for Iran, reaffirmed Qatar's support for Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, and said that Qatar's relations with Israel were "good".
Qatar's official news agency then also reported that Qatar was withdrawing its ambassadors from Saudi, Bahrain, Egypt, and the UAE after discovering a "conspiracy" against Qatar. Subsequently, Qatari officials furiously denied that there was any truth behind these reports, but the damage was done.
...........................................
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-40159080
By Dr David Roberts
King's College, London
On Monday 5 June 2017, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, the UAE, and the internationally recognised Yemeni government severed their diplomatic relations with Qatar, accusing Doha of supporting terrorism.
In addition, the states announced that they were suspending air, sea, and land transport with Qatar, while Qatari citizens are required to return home within two weeks.
Qatar's support of the Saudi and UAE-led operations in Yemen is also suspended.
This might seem familiar. These states (aside from Yemen) withdrew their diplomats from Doha in 2014 over a similar set of concerns. That spat was resolved within nine months. But the core issues remain.
On this occasion, though similar motives fuel the dispute, the fact that Qatar's land border with Saudi Arabia - its only land crossing - will be suspended shows a severe escalation, given just how critical this border is for Qatar's imports, including food.
Recent escalation
Reports emerged in late May 2017 of a speech given by the Qatari Emir, Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, where he was purported to have criticised America, offered support for Iran, reaffirmed Qatar's support for Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, and said that Qatar's relations with Israel were "good".
Qatar's official news agency then also reported that Qatar was withdrawing its ambassadors from Saudi, Bahrain, Egypt, and the UAE after discovering a "conspiracy" against Qatar. Subsequently, Qatari officials furiously denied that there was any truth behind these reports, but the damage was done.
...........................................
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-40159080
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