NOVANEWS
Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani gives a press conference in Doha, on June 8, 2017. KARIM JAAFAR/AFP/Getty Images
On Monday, June 5, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Yemen, and Libya’s eastern-based government aligned with Khalifa Haftar cut diplomatic ties with Qatar and accused the country of causing regional instability. Maldives, Mauritius, and Mauritania also cut ties later. Senegal followed on Wednesday by recalling its ambassador from Doha. Chad did the same on Thursday.
The Saudi press statement on state news agency SPA said that Qatar supports the Muslim Brotherhood, ISIS, al-Qaeda, the Houthis, and “Iranian-backed terrorist groups” in the Qatif Governorate in Saudi Arabia and in Bahrain. The statement also said that Saudi Arabia has closed its borders to all land, sea, and air travel to and from Qatar. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Bahrain have given Qatari citizens two weeks to leave their countries. Additionally, the UAE and Bahrain gave Qatari diplomats 48 hours to leave their countries. Saudi, Bahraini, and Emirati citizens are also not allowed to enter Qatar and have to leave the country within 14 days if they are there. Several airlines from the group of countries cancelled all flights to and from Doha. The countries also closed their airspaces to Qatar Airways and the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen removed Qatar from the coalition. Moreover, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Culture and Information shut down Al Jazeera’s Riyadh bureau and revoked its license. Qatar denied that it has links to terrorist groups. As a result of all this, Qatar’s stock market fell 7.2 percent on Monday.
People in Qatar have been stocking up on food and water in fear of a food shortage. Supermarkets are already facing long lines and empty shelves because 99 percent of Qatar’s food is imported, and most of it comes through the land border with Saudi Arabia, which is now closed. Construction materials are also imported, which could impact construction for the 2022 World Cup in Doha and other infrastructure projects.
The diplomatic feud could end up pushing Qatar closer to Turkey and Iran. The two countries have already said that they would help Qatar compensate for lost imports. This potential realignment of Middle Eastern politics would have significant consequences. For example, Turkish-Saudi relations would likely be strained, as would U.S.-Qatari relations. The U.S. would find itself in the uncomfortable position of having to walk a tightrope between Saudi Arabia, one of its oldest allies in the region, and Qatar, which is home to Al-Udeid Air Base and thousands of American troops.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday seemed to take credit for inspiring the countries cutting off relations with Qatar. He tweeted, “So good to see the Saudi Arabia visit with the King and 50 countries already paying off. They said they would take a hard line on funding extremism, and all reference was pointing to Qatar. Perhaps this will be the beginning of the end to the horror of terrorism!”
Also on Tuesday, Kuwait’s Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber al-Sabah met with Saudi King Salman in an attempt to mediate the crisis and bridge the gap between the two sides. Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa went to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday. Kuwait’s Emir then went to the UAE and Qatar on Wednesday.
Several Middle Eastern banks have begun holding off on business deals with Qatar and the Saudi central bank “advised banks in the Kingdom not to trade with Qatari banks in Qatari riyals.” Additionally, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain told Qatar Airways it had 48 hours to close its offices and the Saudi and Bahraini aviation authorities revoked its operating license. Qatar’s stock market, however, recovered from Monday’s drop. Qatar is hoping Kuwait can mediate and end the dispute.
Things escalated still further on Wednesday. The UAE’s General Prosecutor Hamad Said Al-Shamsi declared that displaying sympathy for Qatar on social media is a cybercrime that is punishable by three to 15 years in jail or at least $136,000 in fines. Also on Wednesday, Jordan told Qatar’s ambassador in Jordan to leave the country and reduced its diplomatic ties with Qatar. Amman also decided to follow the lead of Saudi Arabia and revoke the license for Al Jazeera in Jordan. Djibouti similarly reduced its diplomatic status with Qatar. Additionally, Morocco’s Royal Air Maroc joined the list of airlines that have cancelled flights to Doha.
Turkey on Wednesday approved the deployment of Turkish troops to its base in Qatar to demonstrate support and train local forces. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his support for Qatar the day before.
During his Wednesday phone call with Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, U.S. President Donald Trump invited the Emir to the White House and offered his help to mediate the crisis.
Saudi Arabia and others, meanwhile, are creating a list of 10 demands Qatar must meet if diplomatic and economic ties are to be restored. These demands include cutting off all links with Iran, kicking out members of Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, reining in Al Jazeera, non-interference in the affairs of foreign countries and halting support for terrorist groups. Some actors have expressed their unwillingness to negotiate with Qatar at all.
Thursday saw the UAE’s postal service, Emirates Post Group, cutting mail services to Qatar. The Abu Dhabi Petroleum Ports Authority also re-established a ban on Qatari-linked oil tankers from making port calls in the UAE. A Qatari diplomat remarked about the actions by the countries cutting ties, “It is a blockade! Like that of Berlin. A declaration of war. A political, economic and social aggression. We need the world to condemn the aggressors.” Meanwhile, Gulf government officials continued to jet around the region and elsewhere to try to resolve the situation diplomatically. The Saudis, however, said that help from outside the GCC is not wanted or needed. The economic actions against Qatar are already having an effect, as S&P downgraded Qatar’s debt rating and the riyal fell to its lowest level in 11 years.
Qatar’s foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said on Thursday, “We are not ready to surrender, and will never be ready to surrender, the independence of our foreign policy.” He also said that Qatar has not been given a list of demands yet. Another Qatari official said that the Emir would decline President Trump’s invitation to the White House, as the Emir would not leave Qatar while it is “under a blockade.”
Bahrain followed the UAE’s lead and declared that expressing sympathy for Qatar or criticism of Bahraini actions would result in up to five years in jail and a fine. Bahrain also ordered its media not to publish anything supportive of Qatar.
The Qatari foreign minister warned on Thursday that Qatar could cut off gas supplies to the UAE. The UAE uses gas from Qatar to generate 40 percent of its electricity.
Al Jazeera announced on Thursday that it was “under cyber attack on all systems, websites and social media platforms.” Despite this, everything Al Jazeera-related was working smoothly.
Separately, but related, on Saturday and Sunday, an anonymous hacker or group of hackers released emails between United Arab Emirates Ambassador to the U.S. Yousef Al Otaiba and influential foreign policy figures in Washington, DC. The emails suggest much conversation critical of Qatar’s foreign policy. They also show a close relationship between Otaiba and members of Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), a pro-Israel think tank. In the emails, Otaiba advocated for the U.S. closing its military base in Qatar and discussed pressuring Western companies in the UAE and Saudi Arabia to avoid doing business in Iran. The UAE and FDD have similar interests in that “both want to contain Iran and political Islam.” In a second group of emails, conversations between Otaiba and members of the Obama administration and the Atlantic Council again focused on Qatar.
