Four countries cut links with Qatar

[dudleybloke]

Rich_AR said:

Qatari citizens have also been given 14 days to leave the UAE (near the bottom of the article)

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/region/saudi-arabia/sa...

They are just racist bigots!

[petop]

Not that they are a powerhouse but Maldives just cut ties. Things are afoot.....just as long as it doesn't kick off when I'm transiting through Dubai next week! Stuck in Dubai during Ramadan....no thanks!

[6th Gear]

petop said:

Not that they are a powerhouse but Maldives just cut ties. Things are afoot.....just as long as it doesn't kick off when I'm transiting through Dubai next week! Stuck in Dubai during Ramadan....no thanks!

I live in Dubai and things are running as normal during Ramadan. Even the bars are open and serving alcohol during the day. It's business as usual.

[tuffer]

Wobbegong said:

Targarama said:

You don't st in your own playground. Dubai especially is a bit like Vegas, what happens in Dubai stays in Dubai.

Otherwise the local Police actually keep a close eye on those with more extreme views and they often disappear. It doesn't get reported much though.

In the UAE there are also some mercenary-type army units sitting in the desert waiting for any uprising. Non muslims so they won't side with anyone or mind shooting 'their brother' if anything happens. There was an article about this on CNN (I think) a few years ago.

Hadn't heard about the mercenary army, very interesting.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/b...

Mr Prince and his friends, interesting bunch.

[XM5ER]

News from business contacts in Qatar. The supermarkets have been emptied as people are panicking, Qatari authorities are kicking out all the foreign nationals of their rivals. Currently evacuating all Western expats.

I wonder why the US really sold all those arms to Saudi last week?

Jeez.

[wc98]

El stovey said:

It alsways seems odd that these emirates don't have more problems with Islamic terrorism.

They've got the wrong kind of islamists, the foreigners doing all that fornication and drinking and other lewdness the nutters don't like, they also help the west, some even have foreign forces based there.

Is it to do with who does their banking or something?

they pay off the right people to stop it happening on their own door step. problem is what those pay offs fund.

[Wobbegong]

Concerns of another coup in Qatar posted a few days ago.

https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/1/6415/Saudi-pr...

[AWG]

The foreign office doesn't seem too concerned at the moment.

[Biker 1]

rival38 said:

Interesting times - the US has a big military presence in Qatar.

I wonder if Qatar simply ran out of time for the overthrow of Assad and the resultant pipeline to Europe and instead has done a deal to access the Iranian Pipes, selling to India and China?

Then there is the MB issue - mentioned earlier in the thread. The SA regime have pulled support for the MB, but Qatar has not. In 2015 this caused a major rift when SA became convinced that the MB were planning a `colour revolution` for them.

Where is Israel in all this? so far the spat seems confined to the GCC states. Nobody who has been watching closely is under the misapprehension that Israel has not been entirely happy with the funding of terror in Syria or that the training / money and weapons have not come from a broad base of national actors. Is Qatar just being lined up as the fall guy?

Or are we being blown a giant smokescreen, from which will emerge the ACE in the pack? - a sell-able `reason` to go to war with Iran?

If the US has such a large presence in Qatar, why would SA etc want to stir the pot at this juncture? Surely everyone's on the same side, including Israel, in all of this? War with Iran at this stage?? I'm sure it'll happen sooner or later, but seems a bit premature right now.

[fizz47]

Quite surprised by this...

Also seeing as Qatar is one of the largest foreign investors in the UK I wonder what our government will say about this..

Top of my head they already own..

The Shard,
The Olympic Village
20% of IAG ( British Airways Etc)
20% of Heathrow Airport
Also with American co-owners they own Canary Whargf along with lots of other property investments in the UK.


I wonder if the Suadis and other Gulf nationals will stop spending in Harrods...

[shirt]

it can't last long. with the land border closed and key shipping routes easily blocked they will have to yield to whatever demands are being made by their GCC neighbours through the back channels.

[WCZ]

fizz47 said:

Quite surprised by this...

Also seeing as Qatar is one of the largest foreign investors in the UK I wonder what our government will say about this..

Depends what they've done and what proof there is of it.
TM has no morals though so I can't see her being bothered as long as they continue to invest in us.

[AndrewEH1]

fizz47 said:

Quite surprised by this...

Also seeing as Qatar is one of the largest foreign investors in the UK I wonder what our government will say about this..

Top of my head they already own..

The Shard,
The Olympic Village
20% of IAG ( British Airways Etc)
20% of Heathrow Airport
Also with American co-owners they own Canary Whargf along with lots of other property investments in the UK.


I wonder if the Suadis and other Gulf nationals will stop spending in Harrods...

I wonder if there is anything really stopping UK Plc from purchasing all of those assets off Qatar for pennies on the pound?

[franki68]

fizz47 said:

Quite surprised by this...

Also seeing as Qatar is one of the largest foreign investors in the UK I wonder what our government will say about this..

Top of my head they already own..

The Shard,
The Olympic Village
20% of IAG ( British Airways Etc)
20% of Heathrow Airport
Also with American co-owners they own Canary Whargf along with lots of other property investments in the UK.


I wonder if the Suadis and other Gulf nationals will stop spending in Harrods...

And most middle eastern departments in universities are funded by the likes of saudi and qatar,so their influence extends beyond arms purchasing,and land.

[6th Gear]

XM5ER said:

News from business contacts in Qatar. The supermarkets have been emptied as people are panicking, Qatari authorities are kicking out all the foreign nationals of their rivals. Currently evacuating all Western expats.

I wonder why the US really sold all those arms to Saudi last week?

Jeez.

Bullst.

Yes people have been buying extra food. But evacuating Western Expats?

Wrong.

[anonymous-user]

6th Gear said:

Bullst.

Yes people have been buying extra food. But evacuating Western Expats?

Wrong.

According to reports all Saudi and UAE nationals have been given 14 days to leave and vice versa.
Etihad/Emirates not flying to Doha.

I think if I was working over there I would be making my excuses and leaving now.

[DJFish]

franki68 said:

fizz47 said:

Quite surprised by this...

Also seeing as Qatar is one of the largest foreign investors in the UK I wonder what our government will say about this..

Top of my head they already own..

The Shard,
The Olympic Village
20% of IAG ( British Airways Etc)
20% of Heathrow Airport
Also with American co-owners they own Canary Whargf along with lots of other property investments in the UK.


I wonder if the Suadis and other Gulf nationals will stop spending in Harrods...

And most middle eastern departments in universities are funded by the likes of saudi and qatar,so their influence extends beyond arms purchasing,and land.

And don't forget they also supply approx. 17% of our natural gas imports and a good percentage of gas to central Europe.

[hyphen]

RedTrident said:

Is this not to do will Al Jazeera? The other states don't like what the news channel has been up to?

Expect to see the news channel closed as a concession.

Don't think closing the channel will be enough. Sanctions have been threatened for years and now they have finally happened, you would think they will accept nothing less than Yusuf al-Qaradawi's departure from Qatar. An Egyptian whose extradition Egypt have been demanding for a while.

Issue has been brewing for years: http://www.thenational.ae/world/qatar/inside-doha-...

[Mr Pointy]

desolate said:

6th Gear said:

Bullst.
Yes people have been buying extra food. But evacuating Western Expats?Wrong.

According to reports all Saudi and UAE nationals have been given 14 days to leave and vice versa.
Etihad/Emirates not flying to Doha.

I think if I was working over there I would be making my excuses and leaving now.

And how exactly are you going to do that given you need an exit visa approved by your employer before you can leave the country?

[anonymous-user]

Mr Pointy said:

And how exactly are you going to do that given you need an exit visa approved by your employer before you can leave the country?

That is a very fair point.

When I worked there I worked for myself and only stayed short term.