Saudi Arabia and others cut ties with Qatar

[The Portland Territory]

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/04/saudi-ar ... qatar.html

Doha, Qatar.
Justin Solomon | CNBC
Doha, Qatar.
Saudi Arabia broke diplomatic relations and all land sea and air contacts with fellow Gulf Arab state Qatar on Monday, saying the move was necessary to protect the kingdom from what it described as terrorism and extremism.

The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt also cut ties with Qatar on Monday.

Saudi Arabia's official state news agency, citing an official source, said the kingdom had decided to sever diplomatic and consular relations with Qatar "proceeding from the exercise of its sovereign right guaranteed by international law and the protection of national security from the dangers of terrorism and extremism".

Saudi Arabia cut all land air and sea contacts with Qatar "and urges all brotherly countries and companies to do the same."

Charles Lister, a senior fellow at the Middle Eats Institute, responded on Twitter to the news by pointing out that Qatar "is very heavily reliant on food supplies accessed" through Saudi Arabia, so a closing of the borders poses a "very" serious challenge to Doha.

Bahrain, a close Saudi ally, also said on Monday it has cut diplomatic relations with Qatar, accusing its fellow Gulf Arab state of backing terrorism and interfering in Bahrain's internal affairs.

Bahrain is also cutting air and sea contacts with Qatar and was giving its citizens in Qatar 14 days to leave.

The United Arab Emirates' decision to cut ties with Qatar was reported by state news agency WAM, accusing its Gulf Arab neighbor of supporting extremism and undermining regional stability.

The Emirates gave diplomats 48 hours to leave the country, citing their "support, funding and embrace of terrorist, extremist and sectarian organisations," WAM said.

Well, this is unexpected. I've always known Qatar to be relatively safe and anti-terrorist in Middle Eastern terms, so something fishy is going on. More to come most likely.

Thoughts NSG?

[Empira-Tunisia]

I believe it's a good move by the nations involved. Qatar has had a history of funding terrorism, and I think this will teach them a lesson.

[Outer Sparta]

Saudi Arabia cuts ties to a country funding terrorism even though they themselves do that?

[The Portland Territory]

Saudi Arabia cuts ties to a country funding terrorism even though they themselves do that?

Ahh, I love Saudi hypocrisy

[Fascist Russian Empire]

Next in the news, the People's Republic of China cuts ties with North Korea to protect the Republic from Communism and radical leftism.

What utter hypocrisy; Saudi Arabia, one of the world's biggest sponsors of terrorism and extremism, having the audacity to accuse anybody of terrorism and extremism. Even more hypocritical is the fact that Islamic countries actively protect their borders while demanding that the West have open borders.

[Improved werpland]

Well I honestly have no right to say anything here, but, I've heard Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Gulf States have differing foreign policy aims than Qatar. Like on Egypt, only Qatar and Turkey supported the Muslim Brotherhoods, whereas the Saudis and others were on the side of the military. Could have something to do with this no?

[Donut section]

Gee now if only the west were allowed to do that.

[Improved werpland]

Saudi Arabia cuts ties to a country funding terrorism even though they themselves do that?

Ahh, I love Saudi hypocrisy

The Saudis are opportunist. They supported Saddam you know?

[Outer Sparta]

Saudi Arabia cuts ties to a country funding terrorism even though they themselves do that?

Ahh, I love Saudi hypocrisy

Yep, Saudi Arabia seems to be based on that principle.

[Internationalist Bastard]

Guess they ai t the Saudi approved terrorists

[The Sauganash Union]

Well that's a chink in OPEC's armor.

[Kubra]

pot kettle black
probably a matter of qatar funding some militia or insurgent groups somewhere or other that run counter to saudi ones, the countering being more in a political rather than ideological sense. Y'know, world politics as usual.

[New haven america]

Ah, Saudi hypocrisy, never really gets old.

Also, isn't Qatar one of the lesser involved states when it comes to terrorism?

[Washington Resistance Army]

The hypocrisy is pretty grand.

[Eol Sha]

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/04/saudi-arabia-bahrain-and-egypt-cut-diplomatic-ties-with-qatar.html

Doha, Qatar.
Justin Solomon | CNBC
Doha, Qatar.
Saudi Arabia broke diplomatic relations and all land sea and air contacts with fellow Gulf Arab state Qatar on Monday, saying the move was necessary to protect the kingdom from what it described as terrorism and extremism.

The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt also cut ties with Qatar on Monday.

Saudi Arabia's official state news agency, citing an official source, said the kingdom had decided to sever diplomatic and consular relations with Qatar "proceeding from the exercise of its sovereign right guaranteed by international law and the protection of national security from the dangers of terrorism and extremism".

Saudi Arabia cut all land air and sea contacts with Qatar "and urges all brotherly countries and companies to do the same."

Charles Lister, a senior fellow at the Middle Eats Institute, responded on Twitter to the news by pointing out that Qatar "is very heavily reliant on food supplies accessed" through Saudi Arabia, so a closing of the borders poses a "very" serious challenge to Doha.

Bahrain, a close Saudi ally, also said on Monday it has cut diplomatic relations with Qatar, accusing its fellow Gulf Arab state of backing terrorism and interfering in Bahrain's internal affairs.

Bahrain is also cutting air and sea contacts with Qatar and was giving its citizens in Qatar 14 days to leave.

The United Arab Emirates' decision to cut ties with Qatar was reported by state news agency WAM, accusing its Gulf Arab neighbor of supporting extremism and undermining regional stability.

The Emirates gave diplomats 48 hours to leave the country, citing their "support, funding and embrace of terrorist, extremist and sectarian organisations," WAM said.

Well, this is unexpected. I've always known Qatar to be relatively safe and anti-terrorist in Middle Eastern terms, so something fishy is going on. More to come most likely.

Thoughts NSG?

Anti-terrorist? I don't think you know anything about Qatar.

That aside, this is quite interesting. Although, I find it a bit....rich.

[Eol Sha]

Ah, Saudi hypocrisy, never really gets old.

Also, isn't Qatar one of the lesser involved states when it comes to terrorism?

Not at all. I haven't heard this term before, but apparently they're considered the "Club Med" of terrorism. I don't really know what that is, but I know enough about how shady the Qatari government is that the term probably fits.

[Republic of the Cristo]

I believe it's a good move by the nations involved. Qatar has had a history of funding terrorism, and I think this will teach them a lesson.

So does every other country mentioned though...

Isn't there a significant Shia population in Qatar? I know Bahrain has one, but I am unsure about Qatar.

[Empira-Tunisia]

I believe it's a good move by the nations involved. Qatar has had a history of funding terrorism, and I think this will teach them a lesson.

So does every other country mentioned though...

Isn't there a significant Shia population in Qatar? I know Bahrain has one, but I am unsure about Qatar.

True.
But I think it's good that something's at least being done.

[Eol Sha]

I believe it's a good move by the nations involved. Qatar has had a history of funding terrorism, and I think this will teach them a lesson.

So does every other country mentioned though...

Isn't there a significant Shia population in Qatar? I know Bahrain has one, but I am unsure about Qatar.

Around 15% of the population compared to 70% of Bahrain's population.

[Major-Tom]

Saudi Arabia does the same exact thing.

Not a little different, there is no nuance, they are literally the exact same..

[Republic of the Cristo]

I don't think this is about terrorism - seeing as how Qatar is no more guilty than every other nation mentioned. Going to start doing some searches online to see if there is anything more going on here.

[Senkaku]

What happened was some comments by the Qatari emir played a few days ago on Qatari state media, praising Iran and Israel, and the Qataris have subsequently claimed it was a hack/fabrication. Saudis and others initially blocked Al-Jazeera and promised further retaliation, and now we appear to have it. Qatar has always been a bit rocky with the other Gulf states over various issues, especially their support for the Muslim Brotherhood and some other groups, so it looks like the Saudis just really want to send a message/bring things to a head.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/ ... ran-israel

[Republic of the Cristo]

Just from a quick little glance, it appears this might be related to a power struggle between Saudi Arabia and Qatar. The theory was actually proposed by Steven Cook in 2014 as to why Qatar is often found supporting terrorist organizations.

Qatar supports numerous terrorist organizations with extensive amounts of cash and even armaments - many groups which they support in tandem with Saudi Arabia ( Al Nusra in Syria, and anti-Gadhafi forces in Libya ). However, there are a number of groups which they support that Saudi Arabia does not, such as Hamas and the muslim brotherhood ( though not technically a terrorist organization, they have had many ties ). It was purposed by congressman Cook that Qatar wants these numerous outlets so as to act as a means of political power, and a way to remain independent of Saudi dominion over their politics. The two countries have had some rocky relations in the recent past - in 2014 Saudi Arabia removed it's ambassadors from Qatar and almost from Kuwait for their support of the Muslim brotherhood in Egypt, the GCC almost collapsed because of the incident.

This could be an aggressive play at keeping Qatar under wing, but it's just a thought.

[Sareva]

Next thing we know, Saudi Arabia is accusing Qatar of horrific human rights' failures.

[Sovaal]

I believe it's a good move by the nations involved. Qatar has had a history of funding terrorism, and I think this will teach them a lesson.

Yep, because the Saudis have never once funded terrorism.