Qatar on Friday dismissed as “baseless” a terrorism blacklist published by Saudi Arabia and its allies which linked individuals and organisations in Doha to support for Islamist militant groups. The emirate was responding just hours after Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain published a list of 59 people and entities linked to … Read more
Saudi Arabia and allies, which have cut ties with Doha, on Friday issued a list of individuals and entities they say are linked to Qatar over “terrorism”. “This list is connected to Qatar and serves suspicious agendas in an indication of the duality of Qatar policies,” said the statement from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab … Read more
Turkey is keen to support its close ally Qatar in a diplomatic crisis with Doha’s Gulf neighbours, but has found itself with little room to manoeuvre given its ties with Riyadh, analysts say. “This is a most unwanted crisis for Turkey given its close relationship with both Qatar and Saudi Arabia,” Sinan Ulgen, chairman of … Read more
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) threatened to impose an economic embargo against Qatar while Bahrain said “any options” were on the table as the crisis in the Gulf showed no signs of abating on Thursday. The tough talk from the Gulf Cooperation Council members came on Wednesday despite efforts by US President Donald Trump and … Read more
Other African countries have added their voice for a settlement of the crisis. Somalia has added its voice to the ongoing row in the Gulf region saying it is ready to help find a solution to the dispute. The government said in a statement on Wednesday that it is concerned about the diplomatic row and … Read more
President Donald Trump spoke to Qatar’s emir on Wednesday, offering US mediation in a crisis that has split Washington’s allies and pushed regional powers toward confrontation. “The President offered to help the parties resolve their differences, including through a meeting at the White House if necessary,” the White House said. Trump spoke to Sheikh Tamim … Read more
Kuwait’s Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah met Emirati officials in Dubai on Wednesday, a day after holding talks in Saudi Arabia aimed at resolving a diplomatic crisis with Qatar. The emir held talks with Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, who is also vice president and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates, and … Read more
Saudi Arabia’s top diplomat said Wednesday that Qatar is a “brother state” and that punitive steps against the emirate were a well-intentioned effort to stop its support for Islamic extremism. Speaking in Berlin, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir also said efforts would be made to resolve the conflict within the Gulf Cooperation Council. “We see … Read more
A senior Emirati official insisted on Wednesday that Gulf Arab states were not seeking regime change in Doha, as tensions built in a bitter feud between Qatar and its neighbours. Speaking to AFP in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates’ state minister for foreign affairs Anwar Gargash accused Qatar of being “the main champion of extremism … Read more
US President Donald Trump has called the king of Saudi Arabia to urge Gulf unity amid an escalating dispute over Qatar’s alleged support for militants. “His message was that we need unity in the region to fight extremist ideology and terrorist financing,” a US official told Reuters news agency. Earlier, he said the Saudis’ move … Read more
US intelligence officials believe Russian hackers planted a false news story that led Saudi Arabia and several allies to sever relations with Qatar, prompting a diplomatic crisis, CNN reported Tuesday. FBI experts visited Qatar in late May to analyze an alleged cyber breach that saw the hackers place the fake story with Qatar’s state news … Read more
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stood to defend Qatar on Tuesday, saying he intends to “develop” ties with the embattled Gulf state hit by sanction from Saudi Arabia and its allies. “Let me say at the outset that we do not think the sanctions against Qatar are good,” Erdogan said in a speech in Ankara. … Read more
Qatar must “change their policies” and stop supporting “extremist groups”, the Saudi foreign minister said Tuesday in Paris, a day after his nation and its allies cut off ties with the Gulf state. “They have to change their policies” and “stop supporting extremist groups,” Adel Al-Jubeir told reporters, adding that Qatar needed “to act like … Read more
German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel on Tuesday accused US President Donald Trump of stirring up conflicts in the Middle East and risking a new arms race as Qatar’s neighbours cut ties with Doha. “US President Trump’s recent giant military contracts which Gulf monarchies raise the risk of a new spiral in arms sales,” Gabriel warned … Read more
In a series of morning tweets, President Donald Trump threw Washington’s relations with Doha into deep crisis on Tuesday and raised doubts about the future of the largest US air base in the Middle East. Trump publicly accused key regional ally Qatar of funding extremism, while tacitly backing a blockade of the emirate, home to … Read more
A Saudi-led move to isolate Qatar has had “no impact” on US military operations in the emirate, nor is any expected, a Pentagon spokesman said Tuesday. The US has a regional command center at Al-Udeid air base near Doha from which it runs air operations throughout the region. “There has been no impact on our … Read more
Here are the main developments that led to the unprecedented crisis between Qatar and its Gulf neighbours: On May 20, 2017, Qatar says it is the victim of a smear campaign and rejects accusations of it supporting “terrorism” ahead of a landmark visit by US President Donald Trump to Saudi Arabia. Trump and Saudi King … Read more
Qatar-based broadcaster Al-Jazeera said Tuesday Saudi Arabia’s decision to shut its office in the kingdom as part of the diplomatic crisis in the Gulf was “unjustified”. In a statement, the global news channel condemned Riyadh’s move and called on Saudi Arabia to allow its journalists to continue to work “free of intimidation and threats”. “We … Read more
US President Donald Trump has claimed credit for the pressure being placed on Qatar by Gulf neighbours who accuse it of supporting terrorism in the region. Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE, Yemen, Libya’s eastern-based government and the Maldives have all cut diplomatic and other ties with Qatar. Mr Trump said he was told during his … Read more
A Saudi-led diplomatic and economic blockade against Qatar may threaten food imports but the tiny emirate still has a lifeline through its gas and oil exports, experts said Tuesday. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, Bahrain and Yemen have suspended all diplomatic ties to gas-rich Qatar, halting flights to and from the country and ordering Qatari … Read more