Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani - File photo
CAIRO – 1 June 2017: A dissident of the Qatari ruling family announced on Thursday that opposition leaders will form a political front against Emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani’s regime.
“We have long been silent about the irrational practices of the regime in Qatar,” said royal member Saud bin Nasser Al-Thani in remarks to Youm7 newspaper on Thursday, noting that some royal members are not satisfied with Tamim’s foreign policy with the Arab and Gulf states.
Bin Nasser continued that the headquarters of the new party will locate to London; Qatar is one of the countries that bans political parties and has no electoral system.
Leaders from the family, headed by Sheikh Abdul Aziz Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Tamim’s uncle who is currently residing in Geneva, will form the opposition front against Tamim, saying that they are the legitimate rulers.
“Oppressive means are practiced in Qatar against the opponents…so the voice of the opposition seems weak, especially at home, so the solution boils down to the movement of the Qatari opposition abroad,” Bin Nasser said.
Tamim is not the actual ruler of Qatar, but his mother Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned, Bin Nasser continued; Sheikh Mozah has an office in the Emiri Diwan, called the Executive Office which runs Qatar, and Tamim is just a cover, he added.
Crown Prince Jassem, Tamim's brother, should be the actual ruler but he was isolated due to his strong personality. Tamim was appointed to be manipulated by Mozah, Bin Nasser said.
Any sort of dissent in Qatar is being dealt with whispers and off the record, said the Economist in a report published on June 8, 2013, adding that Qatar-owned Al-Jazeera channel encourages dissent in its broadcast in the Arab countries.
The dissent move was declared following a Gulf State’s fierce anger against Tamim over his alleged remarks published on the state-owned news agency; a week ago, the Qatari news agency has published a statement “allegedly” stated by Tamim, saying in a message directed to four Arab countries (Egypt, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain) that “being hostile to Iran is unwise.”
Tamim also said that Qatar has warm relations with Israel, alleging that Hamas is the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, asserting that Iran is part of the Islamic world, and has heavy political weight in the region. However, officials denied the remarks saying that news agency website was hacked.
The dissident member, bin Nasser, issued an official apology, on behalf of the Qatari people, to Egypt, Yemen, and Gulf States, about Tamim’s latest remarks.
“On behalf of the Qatari people, we offer the highest apology to the people of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Egypt, Yemen and other countries that have been abused and harmed by the Qatari regime.We inform you that the Qatari people do not approve of the national policies that seek to shatter the Arab unity,” the statement read.
He added that members of the ruling family have been asked several times to engage in the policies that insult the Arab countries; however, they have totally refused, he continued in his statement.
In an unverified Twitter account with his name, Bin Nasser has thanked Saudi newspapers, which published anti-Tamim articles, for their support of “the legitimacy”; Al-Riyadh newspaper published an article about five coups in Qatar’s history, pointing out that the sixth coup is imminent.
Bin Nasser said that the regime has launched a crackdown against him after he disowned himself from the ruling family. He noted that Emir’s media people informed him that the royal monthly money, worth 5 million QAR ($1.3 million), has been suspended.
The dissent emir has informed by a former official in the royal Diwan that Tamim has expended more than 413 million QAR to launch a trolling campaign on Twitter against Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Yemen.
The royal member clarified said that Tamim’s regime reached a deal with Iran, per which Tehran would bring all Gulf States down and brings Qatar the sovereignty in the region.
Bin Nassr is not the only member of the royal family has disowned from Tamim’s regime; Ahmed bin Ali family, the first ruling family of Qatar disowned the current state’s foreign policy towards the Arab countries on Monday.
They announced in a statement “we pay our apologies to the government and people of the United Arab Emirates for offensive practices against the statesmen (Emirati officials) by Twitter users loyal to Qatar.”
Tamim’s remarks came following the American-Arab-Islamic summit, which was held in Riyadh among Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz and U.S. President Donald Trump, President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, and King Abdullah II of Jordan.
The four leaders announced their integrated efforts to fight terrorism in the region and the world, agreeing on confronting the growing Iranian threat in the Middle East; they inaugurated “Aa’tidal” (moderation) center to monitor and combat extremism.
Freedom House’s 2015 report labeled Qatar “Not Free”, saying that Qatar provide “financial support to Islamist groups in the Palestinian territories, Syria, Egypt, and other countries.”
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