UAE, Saudi Arabia form new alliance
The UAE on Tuesday announced it has formed a new economic and partnership group with Saudi Arabia, separate from the Gulf Cooperation Council — a move that could undermine the council amid a diplomatic crisis with member state Qatar.
The Emirati foreign ministry announcement, hours ahead of a GCC meeting in Kuwait, said the new “joint cooperation committee” was approved by the UAE’s ruler and president, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nayhan. Saudi Arabia did not immediately comment on the new partnership.
It wasn’t clear how the development could affect the six-member GCC meeting, expected to focus on the Qatar issue. Half of
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the GCC members are boycotting Doha in a dispute that’s cleaved the Arabian Peninsula.
The Emirati ministry said the new “committee is assigned to cooperate and coordinate between the UAE and Saudi Arabia in all military, political, economic, trade and cultural fields, as well as others, in the interest of the two countries.”
The UAE and Saudi Arabia have cultivated closer ties in recent years. Emirati troops are involved in the Saudi-led war in Yemen. Abu Dhabi’s crown prince, Mohammad bin Zayed Al Nayhan, is believed to have a close relationship with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. AP
KUWAITCITY:
1 Tunisia was where it all began. In December 2010, the country's streets filled with demonstrations against Ben Ali — in power since a coup d’etat in 1987 — with the people protesting state oppression, inflation and unemployment
He resigned and fled to Saudi Arabia. He and his wife were tried in absentia on charges of corruption, theft and unlawful possession of cash and jewellery and sentenced to 35 years
He still lives in Saudi Arabia, which has ignored requests for extradition
2 corrution A revolutionary wave of demonstrations and riots, the Arab Spring was a protest against oppressive, authoritarian governments
Tunisia 3 1
5 Libya
2 Egypt
AFRICA 4
Syria MIDDLE EAST
3 Yemen President since the death of his father in 2000, Assad started facing protests demanding democratic reforms, which he cracked down brutally
A civil war broke out in Syria, followed by the rise of various insurgent and extremist groups, including the al-Nusra Front and
Islamic State.
As of July 2017, an estimated 475,000 people have been killed and around 10 million have been displaced
Al-Assad remains president and lives in Damascus
EGYPT YEMEN LIBYA
5 Coming into power after a coup d'état in 1969, Gaddafi was known for brutally oppressing his opponents, resulting in massive protests in February 2011
After Gaddafi sent in the military to clamp down on the protests, the country sunk into a civil war that continues to this day
He was killed by National Transitional Council fighters in Sirte on October 20, 2011