U.S.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson offered to mediate a diplomatic impasse
after six Arab nations announced they were cutting ties with Qatar, which
they accused of supporting terrorism. Tillerson said it is important for the
countries of the Gulf
Cooperation Council to "remain unified" (NYT) after members
Saudi
Arabia, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates (BBC), along with Egypt,
Libya, the Maldives, and Yemen, broke diplomatic relations with Qatar. Four
of those countries blocked
Qatar-based Al Jazeera (BBC)
two weeks ago. Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE gave all Qatari visitors in
their countries two weeks to leave, and Gulf countries closed
their airways and seaways to Qatar (FT). The Qatari
foreign ministry said the accusations “have no basis in fact” and the rupture
is a violation
of Qatari sovereignty (Al Jazeera).
ANALYSIS
"Last
month, Qatar’s state-controlled news agency posted comments purportedly
from its emir that praised Iran and called Hamas the legitimate
representative of the Palestinian people. Qatar said its state news agency
had been hacked, but Saudi Arabia, the U.A.E., Bahrain and Egypt
nevertheless blocked the websites
of several Qatari news outlets," Sarah McFarlane and Jenny W. Hsu
write for the Wall Street Journal.
"The
United States uses bases in several of the countries to launch air
operations against the Islamic State extremist group, and has its
headquarters for the air war at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar. Qatar has for
years drawn the ire of Arab neighbors for its
support of the Muslim Brotherhood and affiliated Sunni Islamist groups as
well its sponsorship of the Al Jazeera television channel, which hosts
frank discussions of politics in the region while also amplifying Qatar’s
pro-Islamist views," Kareem Fahim writes for the Washington Post.
"The Qatari quarrel is highly visible and has gone on
before. It's a repeat performance of the 'uppity' Qataris' challenging
their bigger brother. More quietly, Oman has also distanced itself from the
Saudi bloc. Sultan Qaboos did not attend the Riyadh summit and his
representative did not get a short bilateral meeting with Trump, as did all
the other GCC representatives. Oman has stayed out of the Saudi war in
Yemen and has kept open its ties to Iran," Bruce Riedel writes for Al-Monitor.
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