
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.
|