6-14-17

 

The latest developments since several countries, including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt, cut ties with Qatar on June 5. (All times GMT+3)

6pm - Qatar National Bank sees no significant outflow of deposits

§  Qatar National Bank (QNB), the largest lender in the Middle East and Africa, has seen no significant outflow of deposits since the diplomatic rift started between Qatar and other Gulf countries, it told Reuters on Wednesday.

§  It also had not seen any impact on its overall group operations from its business in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, the bank said in emailed answers to questions.

§  Last week, the UAE central bank urged banks in the UAE to act with caution in dealing with six Qatari lenders, including QNB.

5:30pm - Media blocks against Qatar violate free speech: HRW

§  Human Rights Watch has condemned the action taken by several Arab countries to block media outlets that have ties to Qatar or sympathise with the country as a "violation of freedom of expression".

§  The United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain have threatened criminal sanctions under existing laws against people who criticise moves taken by their governments against Qatar, or who have expressed sympathy towards the country, Human Rights Watch said in a report released on Wednesday.

§  "Individuals have a right to express a variety of perspectives on current events," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch.

§  "Governments don’t have the right to close down media outlets and criminalise speech to shut out criticism they find uncomfortable," she said.

§  "The media need protection from political interference, not official muzzling," Whitson added.

4:40pm - Qatar's envoy to Turkey: Anti-Qatar 'sanctions will only serve to bolster our national unity'

§  Salem bin Mubarak Al Shafi, Qatar's ambassador to Turkey, told Anadolu news agency that anti-Qatar sanctions had "nothing to do with law, religion or morality".

§  "These sanctions will only serve to bolster our national unity and our commitment to our principles."

§  "Those who have tried to encircle us lost the moral high ground on the first day [of the sanctions] and lost the diplomatic war later," he said, pointing to calls by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to raise the ongoing blockade on Qatar.

§  "Following Tillerson's call, they [those countries imposing the sanctions] have tried to pull the wool over international community's eyes."

§  "We, as Qatar, plan to raise the issue with international institutions and organizations; we want a step-back away from these immoral approaches."

§  "Their attitude shows they are not in favour of dialogue or negotiation; this is apparent in their official statements."

§  "They want to enforce their directives no matter what, which is absolutely unacceptable for Qatar."

§  "Qatar is ready for sincere and constructive dialogue. But first they must withdraw [the sanctions] as we cannot negotiate when a gun is being held to our head."

4:33pm - Bahrain detains Qatar sympathiser

§  Bahraini authorities have detained a citizen for sympathising with Qatar on social media, the attorney general said on Wednesday, after authorities warned that sympathising with Doha was tantamount to a criminal offence.

§  The department of cyber crime referred a case to the public prosecutor's office in which "a person of interest had posted comments to social networks that constitute a violation" of a ban against sympathising with Qatar, said attorney general Ahmed al-Hammadi, head of Bahrain's Terrorist Crimes Commission.

§  "The prosecution has begun investigating the matter, and the suspect has been interrogated and is being held in custody," Hammadi said.

3:50pm - Qatar Airways says majority of network unaffected by airspace restrictions

§  Qatar Airways said on Wednesday the vast majority of its operations had not been affected by airspace restrictions recently imposed on it by four Arab countries.

§  Chief Executive Akbar al-Baker also repeated calls for the United Nations' aviation agency to intervene in the airspace rights dispute.

§  "We call upon the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) to declare this an illegal act," al-Baker said in a statement. "We are not a political body, we are an airline, and this blockade has stripped us of the rights which are guaranteed to us."

§  Qatar Airways has said it will continue with plans to add 24 destinations between 2017 and 2018, including two in the next month, despite the restrictions that have forced the airline to fly longer routes to avoid the blocked airspace.

§  "As far as we are concerned, it is business as usual," al-Baker said.

§  Al-Baker said on Tuesday Qatar Airways would redeploy aircraft it used to fly to Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt to fast track its expansion plans.

3:40pm - UN's Zeid warns states to respect rights in Qatar row

§  The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain appear to be violating people's human rights by threatening to jail or fine them for expressing sympathy for Qatar, UN human rights chief Zeid Raad al Hussein said on Wednesday.

§  Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt, which have branded dozens of people and entities with alleged links to Qatar as "terrorists", must respect citizens' rights, Zeid said.

§  "It is becoming clear that the measures being adopted are overly broad in scope and implementation, and have the potential to seriously disrupt the lives of thousands of women, children and men, simply because they belong to one of the nationalities involved in the dispute," Zeid said in a statement.

§  He said directives issued by Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain to address the humanitarian needs of families with joint nationalities appeared to be inadequate, and his office had received reports of specific individuals being ordered to return home or to leave the country they are residing in.

§  "Among those likely to be badly affected are couples in mixed marriages, and their children; people with jobs or businesses based in States other than that of their nationality; and students studying in another country," he said.

§  "I am also extremely troubled to hear that the UAE and Bahrain are threatening to jail and fine people who express sympathy for Qatar or opposition to their own governments' actions, as this would appear to be a clear violation of the right to freedom of expression or opinion."

3:30pm - Turkey says Qatar crisis harms Islamic world

§  The crisis surrounding Qatar is damaging for the Islamic world and Turkey is working to help resolve the issue through diplomacy, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan's spokesman said on Wednesday.

§  Speaking at a press conference, Ibrahim Kalin said Turkey was sending food assistance to Qatar after neighbouring Gulf Arab states severed ties with Doha and imposed sanctions saying it supports terrorism and courts regional rival Iran.

§  Kalin also said a Turkish military base in Qatar, set up before the regional spat, was established to ensure the security of the whole region and did not have an aim of any military action against any country.

1:30pm - Syrian rebels fear Gulf crisis will deepen divisions

§  Rift between Qatar and Saudi Arabia is creating unease among Syrian rebels who expect the crisis between two of their biggest state backers to deepen divisions in the opposition to President Bashar al-Assad.

§  Together with Turkey and the United States, Qatar and Saudi Arabia have been major sponsors of the anti-Assad battle.

§  "God forbid if this crisis is not contained I predict ... the situation in Syria will become tragic because the factions that are supported by (different) countries will be forced to take hostile positions towards each other," said Mustafa Sejari of the Liwa al Mutasem rebel group in northern Syria.

§  "We urge our brothers in Saudi Arabia and Qatar not to burden the Syrian people more than they can bear."

§  A Syrian opposition source familiar with foreign support to the rebels said: "[The Gulf crisis] will increase the split between north and south, as the north is mainly funded by Qatar and Turkey, and the south is supported by Jordan and the (US-led) coalition."

§  A second opposition source, a senior rebel official, said the Gulf crisis "will certainly affect us, people are known to be with Saudi, or Qatar, or Turkey. The split is clear."

§  A senior Turkish official said it was very important that the Qatar crisis did not take on "further dimensions".

§  "These developments will have certain effects on the developments in Syria, its effects will be seen on the field. The elements which Qatar supports may slightly weaken on the field," the official said.

10:50am - Qatar's stock exchange shows modest recovery

§  Qatar's index, beaten down by the economic sanctions by other Gulf Arab states, rebounded 0.4 percent on Wednesday in a broad-based rally; 23 stocks gained and only seven dropped.

§  Gulf stock markets were mostly little changed, although amusement park operator DXB Entertainments led Dubai higher and Dana Gas continued its surge in Abu Dhabi.

10am - Qatar pulls all its troops from Djibouti-Eritrea border

§  About 450 Qatari peacekeeping troops were pulled back from the border between Djibouti and Eritrea, two East African nations who have a long-running dispute over the territory.

§  Both Djibouti and Eritrea have good relations with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which have taken their side in the Gulf split.

§  On Wednesday, Djibouti reduced its level of diplomatic relations with Qatar over the regional diplomatic crisis.

9:40am - Turkey's foreign minister to visit Qatar

§  Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu will visit Qatar on Tuesday to discuss bilateral relations as well as the Gulf crisis.

§  Cavusoglu will hold a meeting with the Qatar's foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani. He will also be received by the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

7am - Bahrain human rights lawyer arrested for suing over Qatar blockade

§  Issa Faraj Arhama al-Burshaid was detained after challenging Manama's sanctions against Qatar, which include blocking Qataris from staying in the country along with other economic penalties.

§  He filed the case with the Supreme Administrative Court in Manama against the Cabinet, Interior Ministry and Foreign Ministry, describing the measures "arbitrary".

§  "This siege has broken up family ties and hurt all Bahraini families," said Burshaid. "The decision to cut diplomatic relations violates Bahrain's constitution and laws."

5am - Qatar risks FIFA action after t-shirt protest

§  Qatar's national football team could face disciplinary action from FIFA after players warmed up for a World Cup qualifier against South Korea on Tuesday in t-shirts showing support for the country's Emir.

§  The players prepared for the crucial game in Doha wearing white shirts emblazoned with a profile portrait of Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

§  FIFA bans any unsanctioned political, religious or commercial messages on shirts.

3am - UAE: 'No military component' in actions against Qatar

§  The United Arab Emirates' Ambassador to the United States Yousef al-Otaiba said there was no military aspect to steps taken by Arab powers against Qatar.

§  The ambassador in Washington DC also told reporters said that economic pressure on Qatar is set to increase.

§  The United Arab Emirates' ambassador to the United States said on Tuesday the Gulf countries that cut ties with Qatar will hand over the list of demands to Washington "fairly soon".

13 June 2017 - Tuesday

11:42pm - US says 'worst behind us' in Qatar crisis

§  Progress has been made towards resolving the crisis between Qatar and its Gulf neighbours after senior US officials met leading players in the standoff, the State Department said on Tuesday.

§  "I would characterise the mood and the approach to that as being one that is hopeful, that believes that the worst is behind us," said spokeswoman Heather Nauert.

11:40pm - Turkey's FM to visit Qatar

§  Turkey will send its foreign minister to Doha on Wednesday and then if possible to Saudi Arabia in a diplomatic push to help end the Gulf crisis.

§  Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu will meet his Qatari counterpart and the country's emir, the foreign ministry said in a statement late on Tuesday.

11pm - King of Jordan visits Kuwait to discuss 'means of promoting Arab unity'

§  Jordan's King Abdullah II visited Kuwait on Tuesday to discuss the crises of the region with Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, according to Kuwait's official KUNA news agency.

§  "The two sides discussed means of promoting Arab unity and joint action, along with the importance of reaching political solutions to the region's crises," KUNA reported.

§  King Abdullah's delegation included Jordanian Prime Minister Hani al-Mulki, chief of staff of the Jordanian Royal Court Fayez Al-Tarawneh and Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi.

10:30pm - UAE: Gulf air embargo only applies to Qatar companies

§  The air embargo imposed on Qatar applies only to airlines from Qatar or registered there, the United Arab Emirates Civil Aviation Authority said on Tuesday.

§  Saudi Arabia and Bahrain issued identical statements on the air embargo, which came into effect when Riyadh, Abu Dhabi and Manama broke off relations with Qatar on June 5.

§  The embargo bans "all Qatari aviation companies and aircraft registered in the state of Qatar" from landing or transiting through the airspace of the Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, according to the statements published by the national agencies of the three Gulf countries.

§  The three Gulf states' ban does not apply to aviation companies and aircraft not registered in Qatar and the three neighbouring countries, and which wish to cross their airspace to and from Qatar, they said.

§  An exception is made for private planes and charter flights to or from Qatar, which require permission to transit through the airspace of the three Gulf countries, the statements said.

§  A permission request must be submitted 24 hours in advance and include a list of the names and nationalities of both crew and passengers, as well as the nature of any cargo.

10:30pm - Morocco voices 'full support' for Gulf crisis mediation

§  Moroccan King Mohammed VI has expressed his "full support" for ongoing efforts by Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah al Ahmad al Jaber al Sabah to resolve the Gulf crisis.

§  The statement came in a verbal message conveyed by Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita to Sheikh Sabah, who received him in Kuwait City on Tuesday.

§  "In his message, the Moroccan king stressed the importance of containing the Gulf crisis and resolving differences through dialogue between brotherly countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council," Kuwait's official news agency reported.

9:30pm - Egypt to ease restriction on flights from and to Qatar

§  Egypt will allow airlines and aircraft that are not registered in Egypt or Qatar to use its airspace to fly to and from Qatar, the civil aviation ministry said on Tuesday.

§  A ban on flights to and from Egypt by Qatari planes remains in force, however.

8pm - Qatar's envoy to Russia: It's not a rift, it's an illegal blockade

§  Fahad bin Mohamed Al-Attiyah, Qatar's ambassador to Russia, has spoken to Al Jazeera from Moscow discussing anti-Qatar measures in the Gulf.

§  He said: "It is not a diplomatic rift as most people want to present, this is really an illegal blockade..."

§  "If [the crisis] is not resolved through mediation I think it should go to the [UN] Security Council and in that instance I think the members of the Security Council such as the US, Russia and other players will probably have to intervene to undo the violations to begin with. First of all condemn it and then undo it and then call the parties to come around the table of dialogue," he said.

7pm - Iraqi PM says he opposes Gulf's isolation of Qatar

§  Iraq is opposed to the isolation of Qatar by Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab neighbours because it hurts ordinary citizens, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Tuesday.

§  Abadi is due to travel to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday for talks with Saudi King Salman.

§  "Regimes are not affected by the blockade; the blockade hurts people," Abadi told reporters in Baghdad.

§  Abadi said he would seek clarification from Saudi Arabia about the accusations made against Qatar.

6:50pm - Qatar closes helium plants

§  Qatar, the world's second largest helium producer, has closed its two helium production plants because of the economic boycott imposed on it by its neighbours, industry sources told Reuters on Tuesday.

§  The helium plants operated by RasGas, a subsidiary of state-owned Qatar Petroleum, were shut because Saudi Arabia closed its border with Qatar, blocking overland exports of the gas, a Qatar Petroleum official told Reuters.

§  The official declined to be named under briefing rules. Phil Kornbluth, head of US-based industry consultants Kornbluth Helium Consulting said his sources had confirmed the closure.

§  The two plants have a combined annual production capacity of approximately 2 billion standard cubic feet of liquid helium and can meet about 25 percent of total world demand for the gas, according to RasGas' website.

§  Among its uses, helium is used to cool superconducting magnets in medical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners, as a lifting gas in balloons and airships, as a gas to breathe in deep-sea diving and to keep satellite instruments cool. It is derived from natural gas during processing.

6:23pm - Qatar rift with its neighbours not affecting US military operations: US official

§  A rift between Qatar and other Arab states is not affecting US military operations, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Tuesday.

§  "We are watching that very, very closely but we have had good cooperation from all the parties to make sure that we can continue to move freely in and out of Qatar," Joseph Dunford told a US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.

5:15pm - Saudi FM rejects branding anti-Qatar measures as a blockade

§  Adel al-Jubeir, Saudi foreign minister, said in Washington, DC, while posing for photographs with US State Secretary Rex Tillerson who called anti-Qatar measures "a blockade" last week:

§  "There is no blockade of Qatar. Qatar is free to... The ports are open, the airports are open. What we have done is, we have denied them the use of our airspace and this is our sovereign right. 

§  The limitation of the use of the Saudi airspace is only limited to Qatar Airways or Qatari owned aircraft, not anybody else. The sea ports of Qatar are open. There is no blockade on them. 

4:30pm - US envoy to Qatar to leave her position this month

§  The US ambassador to Qatar took to Twitter on Tuesday to confirm that her posting will come to an end this month.

§  "This month, I end my 3 years as US Ambassador to #Qatar. It has been the greatest honor of my life and I'll miss this great country," Dana Shell Smith said on Tuesday.

§  A State Department spokesperson said the ambassador will depart "Qatar later this month as part of the normal rotation of career diplomats throughout the world. Her decision to leave the Foreign Service was made earlier this year and we wish her the best as she moves on from the Department of State".

3pm - Russia warns Gulf crisis imperils Syria peace efforts

§  Russia has warned that the blockade against Qatar by Saudi Arabia and its allies would make it harder to reach a peaceful end to the war in Syria, after President Vladimir Putin discussed the crisis with Saudi King Salman.

§  In a phone discussion, the two leaders "touched on the aggravated situation around Qatar, which unfortunately does not help consolidate joint efforts in resolving the conflict in Syria and fighting the terrorist threat," the Kremlin said in a statement after the call.

2:30pm - Qatar aluminium exports go as planned 

§  Qatar's Qatalum aluminium plant is now exporting metals via ports in Kuwait and Oman, as well as a Qatari container port, the chief executive of Norsk Hydro told Reuters news agency.

§  Hydro owns owns 50 percent of the Qatalum plant, which produces more than 600,000 tonnes of primary aluminium per year. 

1:40pm - Erdogan urges Saudi king to resolve crisis with Qatar

§  President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud to take a leading role in resolving the ongoing Gulf crisis with Qatar.

§  "Qatar along with Turkey is a country that took the most determined stand against the terrorist organisation, Daesh," he said.

§  The president said it appears some countries have already decided to hand down the death penalty to Qatar and urged Saudi Arabia to reconsider the harsh steps against it.

10:50am - Israel backs GCC states in rift with Qatar

§  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Arab states were now viewing Israel as a partner instead of an enemy.

7:50am - Pakistan PM 'reaffirms' commitment to Saudi Arabia

§  Following a meeting with Saudi Arabia's King Salman on Monday, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has "reaffirmed the strong commitment of the people and the government of Pakistan for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Kingdom".

§  A press release from the PM office also said "the Kingdom had a very special place in the hearts of Pakistanis and that the Muslim world looked upto the King as the custodian of the Two Holy Mosques".

6:30am - Al Jazeera off the table in any Gulf crisis talks: Qatari FM

§  Al Jazeera Media Network is an "internal affair" and there will be no discussion about the fate of the Doha-based broadcaster with nations that imposed a blockade on Qatar, its Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said at a press conference in Paris on Monday.

§  He said Qatar does not accept "foreign dictations". "Doha rejects discussing any matter related to Al Jazeera channel as it considers it an internal affair," Qatar News Agency quoted the foreign minister as saying.

§  "Decisions concerning the Qatari internal affairs are Qatari sovereignty - and no one has to interfere with them."

6:10am - Amnesty: Efforts to help Qatar families 'vague'

§  Measures taken by the Saudi-led bloc of nations to deal with their blockade's impact on Qatari families are "vague and insufficient" and do not address the human rights situation, Amnesty International said.

§  The comments came during the meeting between Qatar's Chairman of the National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) Ali bin Samikh Al Marri and Salil Shetty, secretary-general of Amnesty International in London.

4:15am - Former Al Jazeera director says blockade against Qatar 'will fail'

§  A senior Palestinian journalist said Qataris' "strong solidarity" had managed to keep the nation's economy stable, despite the ongoing blockade by several Gulf countries. Wadah Khanfar, president of Al Sharq Forum and former director-general of Al Jazeera Media Network, said the boycotting countries had expected Qatar to "be intimidated and surrender" immediately.

§  "That was not the case as the administration and people showed strong solidarity, therefore, basic human needs in the country were not negatively affected," said Khanfar.

§  He said all the boycotting measures were taken at once and there is "nothing else left to do against the country", he told Turkey's Anadolu news agency. "You cannot be successful. You will be weak strategically and politically. This blockade will fail."

3:30am - Pentagon chief: Blockade of Qatar a 'very complex situation'

§  US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said the blockade against Qatar by Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia, was a "very complex situation" and it was an area where common ground had to be found.

§  Mattis said Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani had inherited a difficult situation and was moving in the right direction.

3:00am - Qatari FM: No idea why Gulf nations imposed blockade

§  Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said Qatar still does not know the reasons that prompted economic sanctions imposed by a Saudi Arabia-led bloc of nations. 

§  Sheikh Mohammed stressed Qatar "does not accept any dictations", according to state-run Qatar News Agency. Speaking from Paris, France, the foreign minister added so far there was no European mediation efforts planned to resolve the crisis.