DUBAI, July 23: A top official in the Arab bloc isolating Qatar says the Gulf state needs to change its policies as part of any direct negotiations to resolve the crisis.

Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani said late Friday that Qatar is prepared to talk with the four countries lined up against it, but that any resolution must respect its sovereignty and the terms cannot be dictated from outside.

United Arab Emirates Minister of State for Foreign Relations Anwar al-Gargash responded in a Twitter post late Saturday that dialogue is necessary, but that Qatar must review its policies since repeating its previous positions only “deepens the crisis.”

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain cut ties and transport links with Qatar in early June.-AP

DUBAI, July 7: A diplomatic standoff between Qatar and four other Arab nations that accuse it of sponsoring terrorism has turned a spotlight on an opaque network of charities and prominent figures freely operating in the tiny Gulf country.

It also raises questions about what constitutes a “terrorist” in the Middle East.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain have released a list of two dozen groups and nearly 60 individuals that they allege have been involved in financing terrorism and are linked to Qatar.

Qatar insists it condemns terrorism and that it does not support extremist groups.

The crisis began last month when the four Arab countries cut ties to Qatar. They demanded it end the alleged support of terrorism, and also that it cut its relations with Shiite power Iran and stop meddling in their affairs through support of Islamist opposition groups.

The energy rich nation is an important U.S. ally in a volatile region. It hosts about 10,000 U.S. troops at an air base used to launch coalition airstrikes against Islamic State fighters in Syria and Iraq.

The list of the groups and individuals released by Qatar’s neighbors reflects longstanding concerns raised by U.S. officials. At the same time, it also includes political dissenters and opposition voices.

“The allegation that Qatar supports terrorism was clearly designed to generate anti-Qatar sentiment in the West,” Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said Wednesday in a speech in London.

As he spoke, foreign ministers from the Arab quartet met in Cairo to review Qatar’s response to their demands. At the top of those demands is that Qatar end support for the Muslim Brotherhood, which briefly held power in Egypt and whose offshoots are active across the Middle East.

Though Qatar has cracked down on dissent at home, it views the Brotherhood as a legitimate political force. This has put it at odds with Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt, which have branded the Brotherhood a terrorist organization and see it as a threat to political stability and security.

In his speech, Al Thani said there is a danger in “labeling political opponents as terrorists merely to silence them.”

“Our neighbors see change — those advocating for it and those reporting on it — as a threat, and they are quick to label anyone who opposes their governments as a ‘terrorist,’” he said.

The Brotherhood’s spiritual guide, Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi, was among those accused by Qatar’s neighbors of having ties with terrorism. The 90-year-old Egyptian cleric, who has lived in Qatar for decades, previously was embraced by Gulf leaders and was seen alongside Saudi Arabia’s top cleric, Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdelaziz Al Sheikh, and the UAE’s rulers.

In 2013, he joined a chorus of preachers in the Gulf urging young men to defend Sunni Muslims in Syria, calls that coincided with official backing of rebels fighting to oust Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Al-Qaradawi differed from other Gulf preachers in that he strongly criticized Egypt’s government when it ousted the Brotherhood from power. He also was critical of Gulf countries that backed the lethal crackdown.

Qatar’s support of the Brotherhood has made it an outlier, as has its unique role as a mediator in hostage negotiations, helping to free Western captives held by al-Qaida in Syria and Yemen.

Christopher Mellon, a researcher with the New America Foundation who co-authored a report about ransom payments, said these negotiations have often involved paying extremist groups. He said European governments have similarly gone to extreme lengths to keep these transactions private.

“They’re very deliberately nontransparent. They don’t want anyone to know that they’ve paid,” he said.

Reports emerged earlier this year that Qatar paid hundreds of millions of dollars to release members of its ruling family who were kidnapped in Iraq. Allegations were raised that the complex deal included Qatari payments to an al-Qaida-linked group in Syria, as well as to an Iranian-backed militia in Iraq.

Qatar said reports of ransom payments to these groups are false and that it provided Iraq’s government with financial aid to support the release of the Qataris.

The Arab quartet’s list names a number of Qatari nationals, including Khalifa al-Subaie, Saad bin Saad al-Kabi, Abdelrahman al-Nuaymi, Ibrahim al-Bakr and Abdel-Latif al-Kuwari. All have been sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department as material supporters of al-Qaida. The five appear to be living in Qatar — their assets are frozen, they are under surveillance and are barred from traveling abroad — but they are not imprisoned.

The U.S. Treasury said al-Bakr was detained in Qatar in the early 2000s for his role in a jihadist network but that he was released from prison after promising not to conduct terrorist activity in Qatar. Treasury alleged that in 2006, he played a key role in a terrorist cell plotting to attack U.S. military bases in Qatar, and as of mid-2012 was serving as a link between Gulf-based al-Qaida financiers and Afghanistan.

While some of those sanctioned by the U.S. have faced trial and may have been detained by Qatar at some point, there does not appear to be a single individual jailed in Qatar for terrorism financing, according to David Weinberg, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

Weinberg, who has written extensively about terror financing in the Gulf, said Qatar has been “inexcusably negligent” when it comes to cracking down on such financiers.

“There’s been a longstanding debate within the U.S. government about whether Qatar’s lax enforcement is related to lack of capability or lack of will. My research leads me to believe it’s the latter: lack of will,” he said.

The Associated Press asked Qatari officials Wednesday for information on the prosecution of individuals suspected of terrorism financing. The officials said they would look into the request but had not provided details by Thursday evening.

Also on the list is Sheikh Abdullah bin Khalid Al Thani, a senior member of Qatar’s royal family and a former interior minister. The quartet accused him of giving shelter to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in the 1990s as he actively funded al-Qaida operations abroad, but before he became the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks.

The allegations leveled against Qatar cut both ways.

In the U.K. this week, a right wing think tank released a study alleging Saudi Arabia has spent 67 billion pounds (nearly $87 billion) to export its austere Wahhabi interpretation of Islam around the world. The report by the Henry Jackson Foundation has increased pressure on the British government to make public a study on Saudi Arabia’s role in inciting extremism in Britain.

The quartet list also names Kuwaiti national Hajjaj al-Ajmi, who is sanctioned by the U.S. for allegedly raising funds that led to the procurement of weapons for al-Qaida-linked fighters in Syria. The UAE and its allies say he raised some of that money through a Qatar-based fundraising campaign, but he appears to be living in Kuwait.-AP

WASHINGTON, Jun 7: President Donald Trump stressed the need for Gulf unity in talks with Saudi Arabia’s King Salman, amid a crisis that has divided several key US allies in the region.

The two men spoke by phone at Riyadh’s initiation after Saudi Arabia broke relations and imposed a blockade on its smaller neighbour Qatar over funding for Islamist groups and a host of other conflicts.

“The two leaders discussed the critical goals of preventing the financing of terrorist organisations and eliminating the promotion of extremism by any nation in the region,” the White House said in a statement.

“The president underscored that a united Gulf Cooperation Council is critical to defeating terrorism and promoting regional stability.”

Trump earlier appeared to weigh in firmly behind efforts to isolate Qatar, which is home to the largest American airbase in the Middle East.-AFP

DOHA, June 6: Shoppers in Doha were taking no chances despite Qatari officials telling citizens not to panic after Saudi Arabia imposed a de facto food blockade.

Qatar shares its only land border with Saudi Arabia and relies heavily on importing food, much of it from Gulf countries.

Arab nations including Saudi Arabia and Egypt on Monday cut ties with Qatar, accusing it of supporting extremism, in the biggest diplomatic crisis to hit the region in years.

Multiple queues up to 25-people deep formed in Carrefour supermarket in Doha’s City Center mall, one of the busiest shopping areas in the Qatari capital, hours after five Arab states cut diplomatic ties with the kingdom.

Shoppers piled trollies and baskets high and shelves were stripped of essentials such as milk, rice and chicken.

Among the hundreds of shoppers desperately searching for staple goods was Azir, a Sri Lankan who went to the store when relatives called him from home after watching the news on television.

“I was asleep. My family phoned me and woke me up from Sri Lanka,” he said, his trolley full of nappies for his 18-month-old child.

“I came because of the crisis.”

Qatar imports goods such as chicken from Saudi Arabia, and locals quickly took to social media on Monday to complain they would have to eat poultry from Oman instead.

Ernest, from Lebanon, said he knew he had to go shopping because others would rush to the shops.

“It’s a cycle of panic and I needed to get pasta,” he said, as he shopped with his young family – pushing not one but two trollies.

The story was the same across town at one of the several Monoprix stores, where staff said it had been one of the busiest days at work they had known.

In the nearby Al-Meera supermarket, shoppers again packed the store, including Denis from Germany who was convinced that the crisis was just a temporary storm.

“This is just a yellow card,” he said of the country due to host football’s 2022 World Cup.

“What can they do? It is one of the richest countries in the world.”

To try to avoid widespread panic-buying, Qatar’s government issued a statement claiming that shipping routes and airspace remained open for imports.

The “Qatari Government will take all necessary measures to … thwart attempts to influence and harm the Qatari society and economy,” the statement said.

One sector of the economy which could be badly hurt is exports, including goods such as machinery, electronic equipment or livestock transported by road to Saudi Arabia.

According to the United Nations, Qatari exports to Saudi Arabia totalled $896m (€796m) in 2015.

The severing of ties is also potentially bad news for the service industry, including hotels and cab drivers in Doha.

Saudis usually flock to Qatar on holiday during Eid al-Fitr at the end of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan.

But with a travel ban now imposed by Riyadh, takings could be down for many south Asian cab drivers who rely heavily on tourists.

“This is very bad news, very bad news,” said Raihan, a driver from India. “All Saudis come here for Eid.”

DOHA, June 6: A fierce spat between Qatar and leading Arab nations could see Doha shift closer to Turkey and Iran in a move that could alter Middle Eastern politics.

Seven countries, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Bahrain, severed diplomatic ties with with the energy-rich monarchy on Monday, accusing it of backing Tehran and Islamist groups such as the non-violent Muslim Brotherhood. Qatar has said it does not support terrorism, adding that the diplomatic rift was based on “baseless fabricated claims.”

Doha now faces an acute economic plight as it relies on Gulf neighbors for 80 percent of food imports, according to Reuters.

To mitigate its economic isolation, Qatar will look for other friends, explained Amin Saikal, director of the Center for Arab and Islamic Studies at the Australian National University. “It can accelerate its relationship with Turkey and Iran, who have already said they are happy to help to compensate for the boycott.”

Ankara was ready to help resolve the dispute, said Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, while Iranian officials have offered to send food to Qatar by sea.

“Doha would have to clearly shift its foreign policy position and alliances … Pressure by the Arab alliance could convince the (Qatari) leadership to seek closer relations with Iran and Turkey,” Eurasia analysts echoed in a Monday note.

“As a result, Qatar could leave the Gulf Cooperation Council altogether.”

The majority of Arab governments have long viewed Iran as an adversary and in 2016, Doha recalled its ambassador to the Persian nation amid a major rift between Riyadh and Tehran. But recent months have seen Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani go against Riyadh’s wishes by warming up to Tehran — in a conversation with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani last week, Al-Thani said he wanted bilateral liaisons to be stronger than ever.

Qatar and Iran also share management of the world’s largest gas field, South Pars, in the Persian Gulf.

But if Al-Thani cozies up to Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Rouhani, as predicted, that may further inflame regional tensions.

“Turkish diplomatic efforts with Riyadh would face challenges because Ankara and Riyadh would struggle to find common ground on the Muslim Brotherhood issue, since the Justice and Development Party ( Erdoğan’s party) is perfectly aligned with Doha on it,” Eurasia said.

Meanwhile, friendlier Doha-Tehran links could impact Al-Thani’s alliance with Washington.

“That will place the U.S. in a serious dilemma. The U.S. has major military bases in Qatar but at the same time, it wants to maintain close ties with Saudi Arabia,” said Saikal. Qatar’s Al Udeid Air Base hosts 11,000 American personnel and is one of Washington’s largest military bases in the Middle East.

Tehran may also look to strategically benefit from the Gulf fall-out.

The Islamic republic has been worried about the creation of an “Arab-NATO” as President Donald Trumpseeks to unite Muslim countries against Tehran but the current Saudi-Qatar quarrel provides relief to Tehran, Ahmad Majidyar, a fellow with the Middle East Institute, a Washington-based think-tank, said in a Monday note.

During a visit to Riyadh last month, the US president urged Arab governments to isolate Iran, a nation that “fueled the fires of sectarian conflict and terror,” and called on nations to fight terrorism — comments that many believe helped spark the current Gulf crisis.

“Tehran views the heightening tension between Qatar and other regional Arab powers as an opportunity to weaken the Gulf Cooperation Council and the U.S.-Arab alliance created during Trump’s last trip to Riyadh to fight terrorism and counter Iran and its proxies in the region,” Majidyar said.

Iranian state-run media has been urging the Rouhani government to exploit inter-Arab rivalry to weaken the anti-Iran alliance, he continued.

However, it may be too early to jump to conclusions, Majidyar stated, noting how Riyadh and Doha have previously resolved disputes through dialogue.-AGENCIES