Doha has to abandon cheap lies, PR makeover: NY Times

CAIRO - 9 September 2017: Qatar is spending fortunes to evade the current political crisis with four Arab nations who cut off diplomatic relations with the tiny emirate on June 5, accusing it of funding terrorism and adopting policies destabilizing the region.

Qatar has hired Portland Communications, a London-based public relations agency, amid rising tensions with neighboring countries Egypt, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, who imposed a travel and trade boycott on the emirate after it refused to meet the four nations’ demands of cutting ties with terrorist organizations.

Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani has also hired a Jewish lobbying firm to clean up his country’s image as the key funder of terrorists and the Hamas movement in the occupied land, according to the New York Times report published on Saturday.

The report quoted a Congressional Research Service report that former Qatari Interior Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Khalid Al Thani personally sheltered Khalid Sheikh Mohamed, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, and provided him with a Qatari passport to evade capture.

“Qatar can change. But not through cheap lies or an artificial PR makeover,” the New York Times added.

Following the Arab boycott of Doha, a list of 13-demands was handed over to Doha’s government by Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain for reconciliation, which includes the closing of Al-Jazeera broadcasting and the suspension of its relationship with the extremist government of