Uncovered secret ties between Qatar and Houthis

CAIRO – 21 July 2017: Qatar was unwillingly forced to join the Arab alliance in Yemen against Houthis, Qatar’s Minister of State for Defense Khalid bin Mohammad Al-Attiyah said on Thursday.

In an interview with Turkey's TRT World, Attiyah disclosed that the Qatari soldiers neither crossed the Saudi border nor reached the Yemeni soil. Qatar was only confined to the Saudi-Yemeni border.

Contradictory statements by the Qatari officials were not surprising, according to Sky News Arabia report on Wednesday, but the important thing is to listen to such statements from a head of a sovereign portfolio.

Attiyah’s remarks reflect a clear and implicit admission that it was from the very beginning against the legitimacy alliance in Yemen.

Secret ties between Qatar and Houthis militias were uncovered following remarks made by Mohamed al-Houthi, chairperson of so-called the revolutionary committee, which welcomed Attiyah’s statements.

Al-Houthi called on Qatar for more similar brave stances, according to Sky News Arabia report.

Spying on the Arab alliance

Yemen’s Minister of Information Naguib Ghallab said Doha was responsible for assassinations of Yemeni statesmen through supporting the militants who committed these assassinations.

Qatar has backed the Houthis militias financially and logistically so that the Houthis could escape the Arab alliance forces, Ghallab stressed.

According to the Sky News report, Yemeni officials revealed that Doha had taken part in foiling many of the Arab alliance’s plans to empower the legitimacy in Yemen during its participation period.

In statements to Saudi Okaz newspaper, Yemen’s State Minister Salah al-Sayadi asserted Qatar had contributed to postponing the military decision in favor of political agendas. Accordingly, the Houthis may be part of the political solution in Yemen, Sayadi added.

On June 5, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain severed diplomatic ties with Qatar on charges of supporting and funding terrorist groups in the region such as the Houthis militias in Yemen. Moreover, the Arab alliance led by Saudi Arabia decided to get Qatar away from its forces.