Coalition prepares for next phase of Yemen plan

BAHRAINI AUTHORITIES CITE EVIDENCE OF QATAR COMMUNICATING WITH PROTEST LEADERS AND ENCOURAGING THEM IN THEIR DISRUPTIVE ACTS

The UAE has said that the Saudi-led Arab coalition is preparing its next phase of its military and humanitarian plan in Yemen to push Iran-backed Al Houthi militia towards the negotiating table.

During a joint coalition briefing in Washington, UAE Ambassador to the US Yousuf Al Otaiba reaffirmed UAE support for UN envoy Martin Griffith’s efforts to facilitate the [Al] Houthis’ peaceful and unconditional handover of Hodeida port and city to the legitimate government of Yemen.

Yemen government forces, backed by the coalition that includes Saudi Arabia and the UAE, launched an offensive on Hodeida on June 13, cutting off their supply lines to the militia-held capital Sana’a to force them to the negotiating table.

The UAE Embassy in the US tweeted on Friday that the Hodeida port remains open and 25 ships have unloaded in the last month.

“Food for 6.6 million people for a month is already stockpiled in Hodeida. But the [Al] Houthis are stealing and selling aid to fund their war effort.”

“The [Al] Houthis have placed tens of thousands of landmines and IEDs. They are firing ballistic missiles. They are using sea mines to block shipping,” the Embassy said.

When the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on March 16, 2001 issued its unchallengeable judgement in the Maritime Delimitation and Territorial Questions between Qatar and Bahrain (Qatar vs Bahrain) case, most people saw in it the end of decades of disputes between the two neighbours over territories that included a town, islands, islets and a shoal to which both laid claim.

Since then the two countries set up a joint committee to promote cooperation in all fields.

Senior officials exchanged visits amid promises of expansive relations and a plan, announced in December 2008, to build a causeway that would link the two countries. Ten years later, nothing has materialised.

When antigovernment protests hit the country in 2011, Qatar positioned itself as a mediator trying to resolve the protests and help the Bahraini government.

However, Bahraini authorities later said they collected evidence that Qatar was in fact communicating with protest leaders and encouraging them in their disruptive acts.

Hamad Al Amer, the former undersecretary for Regional and Gulf Cooperation Council Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, says there has been compelling evidence of Qatari meddling in Bahrain.

“It has sought in every way to undermine Bahrain’s security and is helping all those whose objectives converge with its aims. Thus, Iran was the country close to the Qatari policy in that regard. Every single one of Qatar’s stances is within that line,” he told Gulf News.

Bahrain was not the only one to complain about Iran’s interference in the region.

Iran’s divisive role

Saudi Arabia stated that Tehran was helping segments of Saudi society to rebel against the state institutions and engage in rioting to undermine security and stability.

Kuwait reported the busting of espionage cells and the discovery of arms caches run by militants supporting the Iranian regime or its proxy in Lebanon, Hezbollah.

The UAE also has regularly expressed its grievances towards Iran’s occupation of its islands of Abu Mousa and Greater and Lesser Tunbs and insisted on a solution, through diplomatic channels or the International Court of Justice, to the issue.

A blatant example of Qatar’s ill intentions is how the media, especially Al Jazeera, reports on the situation in Bahrain.

“The unprecedented media focus on Bahrain through exaggerated and concocted news and reports that incite trouble, sedition and division is unbelievable. The news and reports are regularly repeated and highlighted in order to build cases against Bahrain and provide cheap ways to target the kingdom and soil its reputation,” he said. Bahrain said that more than 900 reports have been broadcast by Al Jazeera about the kingdom portraying it in a negative light.

Al Amer said that Bahrain has opted not to raise such issues publicly with Qatar “in order to give it a chance to review its stances and honour tribal and Gulf traditions.”

“Unfortunately, such a noble stance by Bahrain has not been reciprocated. But now after the situation reached a breaking point in June last year, Bahrain will no longer lapse into silence and will openly denounce acts targeting its stability and security.”

On June 5, 2017, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt severed their diplomatic, trade and travel relations with Qatar, for its support of extremists and of funding terrorism. The four countries issued a 13-point list and asked Qatar to respond to them in order to resume their relations. However, Qatar rejected the accusations and dismissed the list, resulting in a stalemate that has not been resolved.

A recent report published by the Bahrain Centre for Strategic and International and Energy Studies (Derasat) has shed light on Qatar’s negative role towards Bahrain.

In January, it organised a forum, “Qatar: The Anarchy Patron and Crises in the Middle East”, with the participation of an elite group of thinkers, intellectuals, academics and media figures from across the Arab world.

In May, it published a book on the dangerous standoff at the Shoal of Dibal (Fasht Dibal), off the coast of Bahrain.