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Qatar diplomatic crisis

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In 2017, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, Yemen, United Arab Emirates, Libya, the Maldives and Mauritius[1] cut off diplomatic ties with Qatar over an ongoing diplomatic dispute.[2][3] These countries accuse Qatar of supporting terrorism, of interfering with their internal affairs[4] and maintaining relations with Iran.[5][6] Qatar denies allegations that it supported terrorism, and pointed out that it has been contributing to the the US-led fight against ISIS.[7] Qatar also defended its ties with Iran, saying "Tehran carries influence which cannot be ignored".[7]

Qatar-based Al-Jazeera claims the dispute stems from a May 2017 hack of Qatar News Agency.[8]

Iran blamed it on United States President Donald Trump.[9][10]

Background

Qatar has had differences from other Arab governments on a number of issues: it broadcasts Al Jazeera, it is accused of maintaining good relations with Iran, and it has supported the Muslim Brotherhood in the past.[11] Qatar is also a an American ally, hosting the largest American base in the Middle East.[12]

All nations involved other than Egypt, Libya, and Maldives are part of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), a regional economic and political union. For years, countries in the GCC, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have all competed in exerting influence across the Arab world.[13]

Issues of contention

Qatar maintains relatively good relations with Iran. Qatar used its contacts to help negotiate peaceful exchanges of hostages or safe evacuation of civilians from the affected areas.[11] However, Qatar also sent its forces to fight against Iranian-backed militias in the Yemeni and has supported rebels fighting Iranian-ally Assad in the Syrian Civil War.[11]

Qatar has supported the Muslim Brotherhood in the past. The ideology of the Brotherhood opposes the concept of absolute monarchy.[14] By contrast, Saudi Arabia adheres to Wahhabism.[15] Saudis have accused Qatar of betraying the "true Salafi path".[16] Saudi Arabia and other Gulf monarchies see the Muslim Brotherhood as a threat to hereditary rule.[14] The Egyptian military has long viewed the Muslim Brotherhood as "enemy number one".[17] In 2011, during the Arab Spring, Qatar supported the protesters agitating for change, including the Muslim Brotherhood.[18] By contrast, Saudi Arabia supported Hosni Mubarak and currently supports Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.[19]

Qatar has been accused of sponsoring terrorism. Some countries have faulted Qatar for funding rebel groups in Syria, including al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria, the al-Nusra Front,[20] although the Saudis have done the same.[11][21]

Qatar hosts the largest American base in the Middle East, the Al Udeid Air Base, that has been used by the United States in its campaigns in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan.[12]

Previous diplomatic incidents

In 2014, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates pulled their ambassadors to Qatar citing interference with their internal affairs, but the situations were eventually defused,[11] after Qatar forced Brotherhood members to leave the country.[14]

Development

Further information: 2017 United States-Saudi Arabia arms deal and Riyadh Summit 2017
President Trump, King Salman of Saudi Arabia and the President of Egypt, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, inaugurated the Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology, 21 May 2017

The exact reasons for the diplomatic break-offs is unclear, but analysts believed it is tied to two events in May 2017. First, U.S. President Donald Trump had visited the region as part of the Riyadh Summit in late May 2017, during which he gave strong support for Saudi Arabia's efforts in fighting against the Islamic extremists groups from Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood, leading to an arms deal between the countries. Trump's support may have emboldened the other Sunni states to follow in line with Saudi Arabia to take a stance against Qatar.[11] A second event resulted from alleged hacking of the Qatar state media in May 2017, making the Emir enquiring on US resentment towards Iran and remarking on Hamas. Qatar reported that the statements were false and did not know their origin.[11] On 3 June 2017, the Twitter account of Bahraini foreign minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa was hacked in a Qatari cyberattack.[22]

In May 2017, the email of the UAE ambassador to the US, Yousef Al-Otaiba, was allegedly hacked. The emails were seen as "embarassing",[23] because they allegedly showed links between UAE and a pro-Israeli group, Foundation for Defense of Democracies.[23] The story was covered by Al-Jazeera and HuffPost Arabi, both of which are funded by Qatar. Arab countries saw the media coverage of the email hack as a provocation by Qatar,[24] and deepened the rift between the two sides.[25]

Cutting of relations

On 5 June 2017, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Yemen, Egypt and Bahrain all announced they were cutting diplomatic ties with Qatar, accusing Qatar of supporting terrorism and maintaining ties to Iran.[26][27][4][5] All involved countries ordered their citizens out of Qatar.[6] Three Gulf states (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain) gave Qatari visitors and residents two weeks to leave their countries.[28] The Foreign Ministry of Bahrain in a statement said that all Qatari diplomats in Bahrain should leave the country within the 48 hours.[29] Qatar was expelled from the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen.[28]

Gulf Air,[30] EgyptAir,[31] Emirates, FlyDubai, Air Arabia, Saudi Arabian Airlines and Etihad Airways suspended their flights to and from Qatar.[32]

Response

The Foreign Ministry of Qatar slammed the decisions of the Gulf nations to sever ties with it and in a statement said "The measures are unjustified and are based on false and baseless claims. The aim is clear, and it is to impose guardianship on the state. This by itself is a violation of its (Qatar's) sovereignty as a state. The campaign of incitement is based on lies that had reached the level of complete fabrications."[28]

Qatar Airways in response also suspended their flight operations to Saudi Arabia.[32]

Reaction

  •  US - U.S. Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, urged all parties to, "Sit down together and address these differences." Tillerson went on to say, "I do not expect that this will have any significant impact, if any impact at all, on the unified - the unified - fight against terrorism in the region or globally."[33][34]
  •  Pakistan - Despite being an ally of Saudi Arabia and a member of the "Saudi-led coalition" which has recently tried to distance itself from the Saudi group's anti-Iran agenda, made it clear that the country had no plans to cut diplomatic ties with Qatar.[35]
  •  Iran - Foreign Minister Javad Zarif tweeted, "Neighbors are permanent; geography can't be changed. Coercion is never the solution. Dialogue is imperative, especially during blessed Ramadan." Hamid Aboutalebi, deputy chief of staff of Iran's President Hassan Rouhani, tweeted, "What is happening is the preliminary result of the sword dance."[9][10]
  •  Turkey - Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters, “Countries may of course have some issues, but dialogue must continue under every circumstance for problems to be resolved peacefully. We are saddened by the current picture and will give any support for its normalisation.” Cavusoglu urged all parties to resolve their differences and offered to help normalize relations.[36]
  •  Russia - According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Russia advocates in favor of a peaceful and stable Persian Gulf but cannot interfere in their domestic affairs. He also stated that "Russia hopes that this situation will not in any way affect the general spirit and determination in the fight against terrorism."[37]

References

  1. ^ "Arab states sever ties with Qatar, announce blockade". ch-aviation. 5 June 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  2. ^ "Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt Cut Ties With Qatar". Bloomberg.com. 5 June 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  3. ^ "Qatar row: Six countries cut links with Doha". BBC News. 5 June 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  4. ^ a b "Egypt, Saudi Arabia Among Gulf States Cutting Ties to Qatar". NBCnews.com. 5 June 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  5. ^ a b "Gulf diplomatic crisis as countries cut ties with Qatar". The Guardian. 5 June 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  6. ^ a b "4 nations cut diplomatic ties to Qatar as Arab rift deepens". Associated Press. 5 June 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  7. ^ a b "Sheikh Tamim denies Qatar has links to terrorism". Khaleej Times. 25 May 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  8. ^ "Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Bahrain cut ties to Qatar". AlJazeera.com. 5 June 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  9. ^ a b Browning, Noah (5 June 2017). "Arab powers sever Qatar ties, widening rift among US allies". Reuters. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  10. ^ a b "Saudi Arabia, Egypt lead Arab states cutting Qatar ties, Iran blames Trump". CNBC. Reuters with AP. 5 June 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g Barnard, Anne; Kirkpatrick, David (5 June 2017). "5 Arab States Break Ties With Qatar, Complicating U.S. Coalition-Building". New York Times. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  12. ^ a b Lendon, Brad (5 June 2017). "Qatar hosts largest US military base in Mideast". CNN.com. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  13. ^ Fahim, Kareem. "Four Arab nations sever diplomatic ties with Qatar, exposing rift in region". The Washington Post. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  14. ^ a b c Wintour, Patrick (1 January 1970). "Gulf plunged into diplomatic crisis as countries cut ties with Qatar". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  15. ^ "Breaking ties with Qatar: A strange Arab conflict". PravdaReport. 5 June 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  16. ^ "UAE minister warns Gulf alliance faces a major crisis". Reuters. 28 May 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  17. ^ Knipp, Kersten (27 May 2017). "Discord in the Persian Gulf: Qatar and the Muslim Brotherhood". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  18. ^ Clark, Grant; Sergie, Mohammed (5 June 2017). "Why Tiny Qatar Angers Saudi Arabia and Its Allies: QuickTake Q&A". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  19. ^ McKirdy, Euan (5 June 2017). "Middle East split: The allies isolating Qatar". CNN. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  20. ^ "Gulf allies and 'Army of Conquest". Al-Ahram Weekly. 28 May 2015.
  21. ^ Kim Sengupta (12 May 2015). "Turkey and Saudi Arabia alarm the West by backing Islamist extremists the Americans had bombed in Syria". The Independent.
  22. ^ "Bahrain minister briefly hacked after Qatar cyber attack". Phys.org. 3 June 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  23. ^ a b Ahmed, Akbar Shahid (3 June 2017). "Someone Is Using These Leaked Emails To Embarrass Washington's Most Powerful Ambassador". Huffington Post. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  24. ^ "ANALYSIS: UAE envoy's hacked emails and Qatar's escalating Gulf rift". Al Arabiya. 4 June 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  25. ^ "What is behind the extraordinary Gulf dispute with Qatar?". Financial Times. 5 June 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2017. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |subscription= ignored (|url-access= suggested) (help)
  26. ^ Ulrichsen, Kristian Coates (1 June 2017). "Analysis: What's going on with Qatar?". The Washington Post. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  27. ^ "Qatar row: Five countries cut links with Doha". BBC News. 5 June 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  28. ^ a b c "Saudi, Egypt, UAE, Bahrain and Yemen isolate Qatar over 'terrorism' as rift deepens". Dawn. Reuters/AFP/AP. 5 June 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2017. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  29. ^ "Qatar: 'No justification' for cutting diplomatic ties". Al Jazeera. 5 June 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  30. ^ Nagraj, Aarti (5 June 2017). "Emirates, Etihad, Flydubai, Gulf Air and Air Arabia to suspend Qatar flights". Gulf Business. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  31. ^ "EgyptAir Suspends Flights to Qatar Until Special Notice". Sputniknews.com. 5 June 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  32. ^ a b "Qatar diplomatic crisis: How it affects air travel". Al Jazeera. 5 June 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  33. ^ CNBC (5 June 2017). "Tillerson says break with Qatar by Saudi Arabia, others won't affect counter-terrorism". CNBC. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  34. ^ "Tillerson urges calm after 5 Arab nations sever diplomatic ties with Qatar". Fox News. 5 June 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  35. ^ "Pakistan has no plans to cut diplomatic ties with Qatar: FO - The Express Tribune". The Express Tribune. 5 June 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  36. ^ "Turkey calls for dialogue over Qatar rift with Arab states". Reuters. 5 June 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  37. ^ "Russia Hopes Anti-Terror Efforts Unaffected by Qatar Diplomatic Row". Sputnik News. 5 June 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
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