Prominent Saudi writers speak out against Qatar

CAIRO – 2 June 2017: The tension between Qatar and Saudi Arabia has come to a head over Qatar’s close ties with Iran, Saudi Arabia’s biggest regional rival, and its growing detachment from the Arab Gulf states.

Two leading Saudi Arabian newspaper heads expressed their outrage this week towards Qatar’s recent campaign against Gulf states and their leaders.

Riyadh Newspaper Editor-in-Chief Fahd bin Rashid Alabd Al-Karim published an

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Wednesday titled, “Patience has its limits, Qatar!” Al-Karim criticized the Qatari regime’s recent policy positions, saying decisions keep hitting new lows.

“Arab Countries have borne the ‘poison’ the Qatari-based media outlets have been disseminating for more than 20 years,” Al-Karim said.

Qatar and Saudi Arabia’s diplomatic relations have been strained since the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings. Saudi Arabia has accused Qatar of supporting extremist groups, which Saudi says threatens the peace and security of the whole region.

“We have been waiting for Qatar to refrain from disassociating from Arab states’ consensus,” he wrote, saying the issue was “intelligently and wisely handled by Gulf States that have long considered Qatar their ‘youngest sibling.’”

“We don’t know what they want or where they are heading!” he added. “They have landed themselves in hot water like never before.”

Saudi daily El-Gezira newspaper’s Editor-in-Chief, Khalid bin Hamd Al Malik, wrote an

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in which he asked Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamid to issue an apology. Hamid should “clarify the reasons behind [his] positions” which carry with them “dangerous angles” that would directly harm Saudi Arabia’s interests and empowers its regional enemies, Malik wrote.

He accused Qatar of working alongside Iran in providing support to the Muslim Brotherhood, which is outlawed in Egypt and some other Arab and Gulf states.

Malik further accused Qatar of funneling money from their citizens into media outlets and writers that defend the group, adding that he is sure that the Qatari people are “breaking ranks” with the policies of the regime and its practices, which “only fall in line with the Arab region’s enemies’ interests.”