Opinion: The Qatari Threat

I recall what I wrote about a statement issued by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Bahrain on the withdrawal of the ambassadors of the three countries from the State of Qatar in March 2014. As a matter of fact, the statement was skillfully written and its political rooting can be seen from more than one angle.

From one perspective it shows that Qatar went on “what is dictated by the tolerant Islamic Shariah principles of the necessity of solidarity and cooperation and non-compliance with division as Almighty God says: “And hold firmly to the rope of Allah all together and do not become divided” and “do not dispute and [thus] lose courage and [then] your strength would part.”

On the other hand, it is in a position of division with those with whom it has entered into an alliance, represented by the Gulf Cooperation Council. This alliance is meant to “achieve coordination, cooperation and cohesion among member states in all fields to reach unity and deepen and strengthen the existing links between its people in various fields.”

From a third angle, efforts have been made to reach out to the state of Qatar at all levels with the aim of agreeing on an approach that would “ensure a common policy framework for the GCC states based on the principles laid down in the GCC Basic Law and the agreements signed between them, including the security agreement and abide by the principles that ensure non-interference in the internal affairs of any of the GCC States directly or indirectly, and not support any organizations or individuals who work to threaten the security and stability of the GCC States, whether through direct security actions or through political influence, and not support hostile media,” as per the text of the statement.

From a fourth angle, the new Emir personally committed himself on November 23, 2013 to respect the rules of that alliance, in what the statement calls the “Riyadh Agreement.”

However, as the statement indicates: “In the case of more than three months passing after the signing of that agreement, without the State of Qatar taking the necessary measures to implement it, and based on the approach of openness and transparency that the leaders of the three countries have adopted in all issues related to the supreme national interests of their respective countries and their awareness of the great challenges facing the region, and changes related to crucial issues affecting the security and stability of the GCC states, and the importance of standing united against all that aims to destabilize and undermine the security and stability of their countries; at the meeting held in the State of Kuwait on 17/4 /1435H corresponding to 17/2/2014 with the presence of Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Emir of the State of Kuwait, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Emir of the State of Qatar and the Foreign Ministers of the GCC countries, it was agreed that the Foreign Ministers of the GCC States will establish a mechanism to monitor the implementation of the Riyadh Agreement.

This was followed by a meeting of the foreign ministers of the GCC States in Riyadh on 3/3/1435 H corresponding to 4/3/2014 during which significant attempts were made to convince the State of Qatar of the importance of taking the necessary measures to implement the Riyadh Agreement.

Hence the conclusion that, “all those efforts have not resulted, unfortunately, in the State of Qatar’s agreement to abide by these measures—a [development] which forced the three countries to start taking whatever [action] they deem appropriate to protect their security and stability by withdrawing their ambassadors from Qatar as of 4/5/1435H corresponding to 5/3/2014. ”

This statement reveals three things: First, Qatar has more important alliances than its affiliation with Arab or Gulf countries. Second, Qatar is the cat’s claws of non-Arabs against Arabs, and will have to prove otherwise by reviewing its positions. Third, the three Gulf Arab states have started a battle in which the rest of the Arab countries must be aligned, politically and in the media, to clarify and perhaps expose the negative role that Qatar plays in the region.