PREPARED BY MOHD EZLI MASHUT
The following are news relating to the development of the diplomatic crisis involving several Arab againsts Qatar as at 9.30 A.M. MALAYSIAN TIME:
ALLEGATIONS AGAINST QATAR:
Qatar was accused to be supporting military activities including terrorist organisations in Yemen, including al-Qaeda and Daesh besides having deals with rebel militants, said a statement issued by SPA news agency.
The issue started during the Arab Spring when Qatar was accused of helping the Egyptian government which was then led by Mohamed Morsi, in addition to giving complete freedom to media agencies such as Al-Jazeera, causing the spread of information which had caused the fall of several governments in the Middle East.
However, the dispute came to its peak when Qatar News Agency (QNA) was said to have been hacked by certain parties, which led to the release of several controversial statements.
- LONDON/ABU DHABI: Arab Saudi and United Arab Emirates (UAE) unanimously agreed to stop exporting sugar to Qatar after both countries severed diplomatic ties with Doha, cited a commercial source.
Qatar imported at least 100,000 tonnes of sugar a year from UAE and Saudi Arabia and its consumption increases during Ramadan. – REUTERS
- KAHERAH: The Egyptian government gave 48 hours to Qatar’s Ambassador to leave the country and recalled its senior officials in Doha, said its Foreign Ministry.
“Qatar’s Ambassador has been called today and was given an official notice to leave this country within 48 hours,” said the Ministry in a statement. – REUTERS
- ANKARA: Turkey urged for a dialogue and offered to mediate to resolve the dispute between Qatar and the Arab countries.
Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu said, the development of this dispute is saddening.
- COLOMBO: Maldives followed in the footsteps of the five countries, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, UAE, Yemen and Bahrain, severing its diplomatic ties with Qatar.
“Maldives took the action as a strong reaction against countries harbouring terrorists and extremists,” said the nation’s authority in a statement. – REUTERS
- ADEN: The Yemeni Government cut its diplomatic ties with Qatar right after its allies in the Gulf severed their ties with Doha in the midst of the deepening tensions in the Gulf countries.
Yemen also supports the decision to exclude Qatar from the military coalition led by Saudi Arabia, who supports President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi’s government to fight against Syiah rebels. AFP
- DUBAI: Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) suspended all flights to Qatar, said the airline through Twitter, without giving further detail.
Other airlines including Emirates, Etihad Airways and Air Arabia have also announced similar measures while Qatar Airways suspended its flight to Saudi. – REUTERS
- DUBAI: Qatar Airways has confirmed suspension of all its flights into Saudi Arabia, according to its official website. – REUTERS
- DOHA: Qatar condemned the decision of the three Gulf countries and Egypt to severe ties with it citing it as ‘unreasonable’ and aimed to place Doha under their political ‘custody’.
“The measures taken are unjustified and based on false allegations and unfounded,” said Qatar Foreign Ministry in a statement, referring to the unprecedented steps taken by Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UAE and Egypt.
“The aim is clear, and it is to impose ‘custody’ in this country. It ultimately violates its (Qatar) sovereignty as a country,” he said. – AFP
- DUBAI: Etihad Airways has suspended all flights to and from Doha until further notice. REUTERS
- SINGAPORE: Oil prices skyrocketed following the action of the five countries, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen and most recently, Libya, who broke off diplomatic relations with Qatar. – AGENCIES
OIL PRICES
- TEHRAN: Iranian Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif yesterday, asked Qatar and the neighboring Gulf Arab countries which broke off diplomatic relations with it, to have a dialogue session to resolve their dispute.
“Neighbours are permanent, geography cannot change. Coercion is not a solution. The dialogue is important, especially in the month of Ramadan,” according to Zarif through his Twitter account. – AFP
EXPERTS’ REACTION:
- The action taken by Saudi Arabia and its four allies to severe diplomatic ties with Qatar is seen as an inappropriate move.
Citing that Qatar supports terrorists and extremist activities to justify their action, these countries should have taken the issue to the discussion table and do something to persuade Qatar to reject extremism in total.
Head of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research in Singapore, Prof. Rohan Gunaratna. (ASTRO Awani)
- “Qatar News Agency (QNA) was hacked and it was said to had reported that a Qatar main leader had made statements that led to greater friction, particularly with Saudi Arabia.
“Among the statements made were concerning Trump’s leadership in the US besides questioning Saudi Arabia’s campaign to get rid of Iran from other forces in the Middle East,” – Political Analyst Prof. Kamaruzzaman Yusoff. – ASTRO Awani
MALAYSIAN’S VIEW ON THE QATAR ISSUE:
KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia will ‘wait and see’ before making a decision to cut diplomatic ties with Qatar like the other Arab countries, said the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
“Let’s wait and see. We are close with the Gulf countries. We do not know the real issue at the moment. We shall follow its development,” said the prime minister when asked to comment on the latest development in the Middle East after his visit to the Tun Razak Exchange (TRX) Gallery.
Saudi Arabia, Egypt, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain decided to severe diplomatic ties with Qatar on Monday after claiming that it supports terrorist organisations. – BERNAMA
