14/06/2017
Four UAE nationals (click here) have been condemned to sentences ranging between placement in a counselling center and imprisonment terms by the Abu Dhabi Federal Appeal Court today for joining terror organisations and promoting their fanatic ideologies.
The first person, "KH.S.A.S.A", has been condemned to life in prison and the court bore him to pay all the charges and expenses of the judicial lawsuits pressed against him.
The second, "K.SH.M.A'.S.", has been sentenced to seven years in prison for attempting to inflict damage to UAE's relations with a sisterly country.
The third, "A'.A.A.A.", has been placed under surveillance for five years for attempting to join the terrorist organisation of Daesh, and the court ordered to confiscate all means and devices of communications used by the convict during his criminal endeavours, bearing him to pay all the charges and expenses of the judicial lawsuits pressed against him.
The court ordered to place the fourth convict, "A'.M.A'.R.A.A", in a counselling center under surveillance for six months effective upon the issuance of the court ruling.
I congratulate the Arab countries for taking on a very difficult set of values to end the threat of terrorists, but, Daesh is a very different threat.
November 16, 2015
By Peter Kovessy
...Nonetheless, (click here) in spite of last year’s threats on ISIS forums about bombing the 2022 World Cup, a foreign policy analyst said it’s unlikely that Qatar would be attacked by the group.
This is because the Gulf country has a “low profile” in the ongoing military campaign against ISIS, Andrew Hammond, a policy analyst at the European Council on Foreign Relations, told Doha News:...
I am uncertain that Qatar has the ability to carry out the intelligence to end any presence or predict the next attack. There is a USA military base in Qatar and it might be best if the Qatar leadership consulted with them to engage a strategy that would work.
Qatar can no longer take a back seat to ending terrorist networks; it has to stop being a hostage to dangerous people. Daesh is a very different threat than other terrorist groups, including al Qaeda (where it still may exist). Daesh is seeking to end all middle east countries as we know them, including Sunni Arab countries.
Qatar's approach is not dissimilar to that of Saudi Arabia. Qatar's position is strongly based in the Muslim belief expressed in the five pillars.
Qatar is committed (click here) to fighting extremism and terrorism in all its forms, in co-ordination with its Coalition partners. By providing humanitarian aid, supporting educational and economic development initiatives, and building more resilient communities, Qatar aims to contribute to the security, stability and prosperity of the region.
There is a very big difference, however, between Saudi Arabia and Qatar in that the Saudis have very big guns. The country has a substantial military.
The real danger to the region comes from the instability created by Daesh. It is a brutal regime and if it can establish itself among the people that is the beginning of government infrastructure failure and any defense. The people must remain loyal to their current sovereign and protect from such a regime as Daesh.
13 June 2017
By Tom Keatinge
The dispute (click here) that has seen Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies isolate Qatar stems from allegations that the tiny gas-rich nation is sponsoring extremist groups which are destabilising the Middle East.
This is not the first time Qatar's neighbours have expressed their displeasure over its individualist foreign policy - diplomatic relations were severed for nine months in 2014.
Tensions have arisen from Qatar's support for the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood; its close relationship with groups such as the Taliban and certain al-Qaeda affiliates; and its relationship with Iran, which has most recently led to allegations from Saudi Arabia that the state-funded broadcaster Al Jazeera is supporting Houthi rebelsin Yemen fighting government forces backed by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Doha has strongly denied Riyadh's accusations, and said it has taken more robust counter-terrorism measures than some of its neighbours.
The events of 2011 surprised and shocked Saudi Arabia. First the rebellion in Yemen, which no one expected to have succeed and then the removal of Ali Abdullah Saleh. The Houthis became a force to contend with and Saudi Arabia was caught off balance in it's southern region.
Just as surprising to Qatar were the events of 2017. This was no less a shock and surprise than the rebellion in Yemen that lead to an unstable southern Saudi border.
...In April, it reportedly paid a ransom of as much as $1bn (£790m) to a former al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria and to Iranian security officials as part of a deal that resulted in the release of 26 royal family members reportedly kidnapped by Iranian-backed Iraqi Shia militiamen and of dozens of Shia fighters captured by jihadists in Syria.
Thus it is Qatar's alleged continued funding of radical ideology and extremism that is seemingly the cause of concern this time....
I don't call that funding of terrorists, so much as love of family. We all know the tragedy of repeated hostage taking and Somalia. Somalia is a failed state, but, because of the poverty the people face, most shipping companies see the hostage amounts of pirated ships as a cost of business.
The idea there are elements within Iran and Syria willing to put precious royal family members in peril is a deep concern. Is there any wonder why the Shia are not embraced by the Sunnis. The Iranian security forces (which I doubt were acting under government orders, so much as an independent extremist group) must be brought to justice for this act of violence. The Somali model of kidnappings cannot enter the frey in the middle east and should be ended with Somalia as well.
The Arab countries seeking a stronger Qatar should be looking to the infrastructure that will protect a country and it's beautiful cities from Daesh as well as any hostage takers.
Qatar is not supporting terrorists, so much as reacting to threats in the way it has always worked in the past. Qatar needs to follow the leadership and example of it's neighbors and affiliates (click here) because Qatar's well honed methods no longer work. The kidnappings should have been a very stark reality to that fact.
It would be best if Qatar is heard by the other countries in the region so it can develop methods that will be consistent across the security spectrum and will end the dangers that concerns Qatar leadership. I see this as a stronger middle east and not a weaker one, however, a weaker middle east can occur if there is not a common underlying effort to end the presence of Daesh and other independent terrorist groups be they Sunni or Shia.
June 24, 2017
Saudi Prince Khalid Bin Farhan al-Saud, (click here) who lives in Germany, has revealed what he claims are the US conditions for helping Mohamed Bin Salman to become King of Saudi Arabia before his father’s death, thenewkhalij.org reported on Friday.
Writing on Twitter, Khalid said that he had received the information from an informed source within Saudi Arabia’s ruling family.
The alleged conditions include “absolute obedience to the US and Israel and carrying out whatever they ask him to do.” Three other conditions, claimed Khalid, are stated in return for helping Bin Salman take the throne before the death of his father: “Working to settle all Gaza residents in north Sinai as an alternative homeland and Saudi Arabia along with the UAE will afford the needed funds; getting rid of Hamas and whoever supports it; and getting Sanafir Island from Egypt.”
Bin Farhan said that the last condition would make the Gulf of Aqaba international waters instead of Egyptian territorial waters, which would facilitate Israeli shipping to and from the port of Eilat. It would also help Israel to carry out a project planned to operate in parallel to the Suez Canal. A retainer of around $500 million is also involved, he claimed.
The prince said that this issue split the ruling family even before the death of King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz in 2015, as a wave of royal decrees ousted several officials from within the royal family and others.
This is Trump's middle east peace plan? I have no problem with the son of the current ruler taking over after his father's death. It seems more secure in that he holds the loyalty to the people in the same manner of his father, however, the CONDITIONS by Mr. Kushner is nothing less than blackmail.
Saudi Prince Mohamed Bin Salman should be placed in leadership for the good of the people of Saudi Arabia, not because Mr. Kushner wants to be the savior of Israel.
Is there any wonder why the USA Secretary of State is ineffective when there is nothing but back room deals being conducted by the Oval Office?
Stability in the middle east is based on POLICY that will stabilize a region, not a reassignment of an entire race of people to the Sinai. This is astounding.
I look forward to Saudi Prince Mohamed Bin Salman taking leadership of Saudi Arabia. He must lead and giving in to back room deals with Kushner and Trump is not leadership. I apologize to the Saudi Prince for such an illegal demand and look forward to him being the mitigator of peace that will last with consent of all the people.
There can be no such agreement between Saudi Arabia and the USA without the consent of all other parties involved and the USA Congress. The President of the USA is allowed to negotiate peace agreements and treaties, but, it is the Congress that ultimately has to pass the treaty into law. The good Saudi Prince Khalid is be commended for coming forward to free his country of such demands by Trump. Mohamed Bin Salman is probably too kind to stand against the demands of an immoral administration only interested in personal goals. I wish the King ease in passing and solace to his family, including Prince Khalid and Prince Mohamed Bin Salman.
These shocking demands by the USA's current president should not derail any agreement between the regions countries to end the threat of terrorism and Deash. I wish all the leaders great success in bringing about a stable middle east where family is not used as bargaining chips to terrorist wealth.
Iran has a lot to answer for in the circumstances of a royal family of Qatar. I would expect the UN Security Council summon the Iranian ambassador to explain these circumstances and how they occurred.
First it is ill health of Americans leading to their deaths by disease and now it is power brokering in the back rooms of deal making. What else should we expect from the USA Republican Plutocrats? I demand an investigation to the role of the President and Kushner in manipulating the fate of a Saudi Prince.
