Timeline: How Qatar tried to interfere in Bahrain?

CAIRO - 18 June 2017: The most recent victim of Qatari backstabbing is Bahrain. On June 16, the Bahraini Ministry of Interior issued an official statement denouncing Qatar’s interference in Bahrain’s interior affairs and its tactics to incite chaos in the kingdom.

Here is a timeline of Qatar interference in Bahrain, traced back to early disputes between the two gulf states:

1936: Territorial disputes erupt between Qatar and Bahrain over the Hawa, Zubarah, Fasht Al Azm, Fasht Dibal, and al-Jaradah islands.

1939-1944: Qatar illegally constructs two forts in disputed Zubarah Island.

1953: Qatar illegally stations troops in the constructed forts in disputed Zubarah Island.

1971: Bilateral relations between Qatar and Bahrain are established in conjunction with Bahrain’s independence.

1986: Qatari troops arrive on Fasht Dibal Island via helicopter and declare the island a “restricted zone”. Qatari troops seize several Bahraini officials and 29 construction workers hired by a Dutch contracting company.

1987: Bahraini authorities report discovering a spying mission by Qatar in Bahrain.
1990: Qatar uses the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit held in Doha to reiterate its territorial claims to other GCC states.

1991: Qatar refers to the United Nations International Court of Justice (UNICJ) to solve territorial disputes with Bahrain.

1996: For the second time, Bahrain boycotts the GCC summit hosted in Doha as a result of Qatari incursions in Fasht Dibal Island

2001: The ICJ awards Bahrain and Qatar equal amounts of land. Bahrain is given the Hawar Islands, Al-Jaradah and Fasht Al Azm while Qatar receives Zubarah, Fasht Dibal, and the Janan Island.

2011 – 2013: Iran issues more than 160 antagonistic statements regarding Bahrain, provoking violence against Bahraini authorities.

2011: Bahrain witnesses reform protests and chaos led by the pro-Iranian Islamic Dawa (Call) party and supported by Qatar

2011: The military arm of the GCC, the “Peninsula Shield Force,” deploys in Bahrain to restore security and contain the situation in the Kingdom.

2013: GCC member states sign an agreement to not to interfere in the internal affairs of fellow GCC states.

2014: Political talks between the government and opposition fail, and the opposition boycott parliamentary and municipal council elections in late 2014.

2014: Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and UAE sever diplomatic ties with Qatar and withdraw their ambassadors as a result of Qatar’s failure to abide by the 2013 GCC agreement and the Gulf state’s decision to support the terrorist Muslim Brotherhood.

2015: Bahrain Ministry of Interior accuses 72 persons of being terrorists, spying for foreign countries, and recruiting a number of persons through social media to carry out terrorist operations.

June 2016: The Bahrain High Civil Court dissolves “Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society,” one of the largest opposition political societies in Bahrain and a contributor to internal chaos and unrest in the Kingdom.

June 3, 2017: Qatari cyber attack hacks the Twitter account of Bahraini Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa after sharing the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani’s remarks on Iran.

June 5, 2017: Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Egypt, Yemen, Libya and the Maldives sever ties with Qatar. Jordan also announced it was downgrading their diplomatic representation with Qatar. The Saudi Press Agency reported that this decision is a result of “serious and systematic violations committed by the authorities in Doha over the past years with the aim of creating strife among Saudi internal ranks, undermining its sovereignty and embracing various terrorist and sectarian groups aimed at destabilizing the region.”

June 16, 2017: the Bahraini Ministry of Interior issues an official statement to confirm that Qatar is interfering in Bahrain’s interior affairs and inciting chaos in the kingdom. The Bahraini MoI broadcasts a leaked phone call between a former Qatari State Minister of Defense, Hamad bin Ali Al Attiyah, and terrorist, Hassan Ali Sultan, conspiring against the Bahraini government and agreeing on inciting chaos in Bahrain through destabilizing the situation in the kingdom.