Qatar’s emir procrastinates as solution to Gulf crisis

CAIRO – 30 October 2017: Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani has claimed several times that he seeks to end the crisis with Gulf states; however, he has not taken any action to respond to their demands, thinking that procrastination and evasion will solve it.

Speaking to U.S. CBS News broadcaster Charlie Rose, Tamim declared that he wanted to end the dispute, which erupted on June 5 with a boycott by Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.

“Nothing is going to be above our dignity, our sovereignty. But we want it to end. I always say that. If they (are) going to walk one meter toward me, I‘m willing to walk 10,000 miles towards them,” he told the 60 Minutes program in an interview on Sunday.

During the interview, he expressed his fear of the chaos that may erupt in the region if any military interventions happened.

Qatar is attempting to internationalize the Gulf crisis and put pressure on the Arab Quartet to lift the boycott, resorting to foreign support and media for that purpose.

For this purpose, Qatar has spent nearly $5 million on U.S. lobbying and media campaigns to expand its influence after the Arab Quartet cut off ties with it.

The ads, which call for a lifting of the blockade, are also produced for print and online display in the New York Times, the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the New York Post and Politico.

The tiny Gulf emirate of Qatar and its officials still refer to the Arab boycott over its support of terrorism as a blockade, but it contradicts the status quo.

The difference between a blockade and a boycott is huge. Boycott means a withdrawal of diplomatic and economic relations by a state or a group of states with another state, but blockade is to be completely besieged by sea, air and land with the prevention of any commercial or external contact.

In addition, Qatar has made many attempts to harness support from the United States and other western countries.

Tamim has asked U.S. President Donald Trump to mediate the crisis during talks held on the sidelines of the 72nd regular session of the U.N. General Assembly, claiming that he has urged the Arab countries to reach a solution to the crisis from day one.

The U.S. and Qatar signed a memorandum of understanding to disable the flow of terror financing and to intensify counterterrorism activities.

Qatar resorts to procrastination to buy time until the next summit of the GCC, as tweeted by Bahraini Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed al-Khalifa.

However, Qatar continues to fund terrorism in the region. Recently, Qatari leaks revealed three pieces of evidence proving Qatar’s involvement in the Giza-Wahat attack.

Christopher Davidson, a British researcher who teaches Middle East politics at Durham University in England, stated that Qatar was involved in the transport of weapons and fighters from Libya to Syria in 2012 and 2013, but is now transporting them to Libya.

Yemeni Interior Minister Hussein Arab also accused Qatar of supporting and financing the Houthi militants in Yemen.

Also, reliable sources in Gaza have exclusively stated to Egypt Today that Israel secretly allowed Qatari Ambassador to Gaza Mohammad al-Ammadi to enter Gaza through Erez Crossing to deliver $14 million to extremist groups.

UAE State Minister for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash said that Qatar’s attack on Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates through western media would not help them.

Qatar is suffering from an economic crisis, as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain closed the only land route into Qatar and refused to allow the use of their sea ports or airspace, affecting Qatar's exports and imports.