More ruling family members to join Qatar’s opposition suppression list

CAIRO – 16 October 2017: Political experts expect the opposition in Qatar to escalate, after the Qatari regime froze all assets belonging to Sheikh Abdullah bin Ali Al-Thani, one of the most prominent Qatari figures to speak out against the government in the ongoing crisis involving Doha.

Qatar’s suppression techniques against the opposition ranges between revoking citizenships or freezing bank accounts; believing that this approach will contain the opposition’s impact internally and prevent more from coming forth.

Tarek Fahmi, a political science professor, assumed that freezing the oppositions’ bank accounts came within the framework of Qatar’s sanctions against those who participated in the opposition conference held in London in September.

He further explained that Qatar is obviously preparing a list of activists’ and oppositions’ names, in order to burke their views of rejecting the ruling family policies. Despite the fact that Sheikh Abdullah bin Ali Al-Thani is a Qatari prince, sanctions were imposed on him nevertheless.

Fahmi referred that the Qatari crisis is not a priority on the U.S. agenda. Fahmi also indicated that the Qatari-Gulf crisis may possess some advantages for parties like France and Germany.

Parliamentarian Yiehya Kedwani highlighted splits that occurred in the Qatari ruling family; a matter that may emphasize that a major member of the family disagrees with Hamad’s policies.

An advisor at the Political and Strategic Studies Center in the state-owned newspaper Al-Ahram, Hasan Abou-Taleb, suggested that the latest suppression approach adopted by Qatar against the opposition indicates that a new wave of rejections is about to take place in Qatar. He clarified that suppression is expected by Qatar, especially after oppositions caused international impacts.

On Saturday, Sheikh Abdullah bin Ali Al-Thani revealed that the Qatari regime froze all his accounts in Qatari banks.

“It is an honor that the Qatari regime froze my bank accounts in Qatar, and I would like thank them for this reward. I dedicate this to my country,” Al-Thani tweeted.

Amid unstable circumstances in Qatar following the recent Qatari crisis, there are anticipations on the possible candidates to rule Qatar after Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani.
Following the Arab boycott of Doha, a list of 13 demands was handed to Doha’s government by the boycotting quartet for reconciliation, which includes the closing of Al Jazeera broadcasting and the suspension of its relationship with the extremist government of Iran.

Since then, Qatar has resisted conciliation attempts and has not shown any efforts in disassociating itself from the terrorist groups that the Gulf and its allies accuse Doha of harboring and sponsoring.