U.S. State Department Says Qatar Crisis Might Not Be Terror-Related

International Business Times

21 June 2017

In stark contrast to President Donald Trump’s recent stance, the U.S. State Department questioned the motivation behind the boycotting of Qatar by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, it was reported Tuesday. It said there was no clarity on whether the reason was Doha’s alleged support of terror or just internal disagreements.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, and Egypt cut off diplomatic links as well as air and sea links with Doha on June 5, ordering Qatari citizens to leave their countries while urging their own citizens to return from Qatar.

Sanctions were also imposed on food and other imports into the country, Al Jazeera reported.

ABS-CBN News cited an international analyst saying the country’s significant financial reserves would allow it to weather the sanctions for some time. With Qatar still having access to international shipping lines, its main revenue stream from oil and gas was not interrupted. Neither was its food supply from other countries such as Turkey and Iran.

Oil prices are also expected to stay stable for now unless Saudi Arabia and its allies decided to step up their stance and try for a regime change in Qatar.

James Dorsey, senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, also said the United States might have to intervene soon. “They are probably going to intervene, but it won’t be for one side or the other. It’s going to be an intervention where demands are going to be put forward to both sides,” he said.

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RSIS / Online

Last updated on 28/06/2017