Qatari sheikh says being ‘detained’ in UAE
DOHA: A controversial member of Qatar’s royal family says he is being detained in the UAE, media reported Sunday, sparking a quick denial by an Emirati counterterrorism official.
Sheikh Abdullah Ali Al-Thani, a little-known royal, emerged as a key figure in the dispute between the Gulf states in the weeks after Riyadh and Abu Dhabi cut ties with Doha in June.
He is seen by some as a potential challenger to the Qatari leadership.
A video circulating online, also broadcast by Qatar-based Al-Jazeera television, shows the sheikh seated in an armchair warning that he was “afraid something could happen to me that will be blamed on Qatar”.
“I am now in Abu Dhabi, where I was a guest of (UAE crown prince) Sheikh Mohammed” Zayed al-Nahyan, said Sheikh Abdullah.
“That is no longer the case. I am now detained,” he said.
“I want to make clear that the people of Qatar are innocent,” the sheikh said. “Sheikh Mohammed bears full responsibility for anything that happens to me.”
Ali Rashed al-Nuaimi, who heads the UAE’s Hedayda counter-extremism centre, meanwhile tweeted that Sheikh Abdullah had asked to stay in the Emirates “for his own safety”.
“For the record, a trusted source confirmed that Sheikh Abdullah Ali Al-Thani is free to leave the United Arab Emirates as he likes and to whatever destination he likes,” Nuaimi wrote.
Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain severed diplomatic and trade ties with Qatar in June over allegations that Doha supported Islamist extremists and had close ties to regional rival Iran. Doha denies the accusations. In response to the video, Qatar’s foreign ministry spokeswoman, Lulwaal-Khater,saidinastatement that Doha was monitoring the situation.
“The state of Qatar observes the situation closely, and due to the total severance of ties with the UAE it is difficult to clearly establish the circumstances surrounding the situation,” she said. — AFP