Relatives of Qatari royal’s staff voice fears for their safety after security forces raid palace

Staff of a Qatari sheikh have gone missing after authorities seized the royal’s assets, including the palace at which they worked, their families said.

Qatari forces on Thursday moved against Sheikh Sultan bin Suhaim Al Thani, a second member of the royal family who has been critical of the Qatari emir, Sheikh Tamim, Sky News Arabia reported.

The families of palace staff Mustafa Al Sadqawi and Yunis Al Farsi said they were missing.

Kowthar Al Farsi, sister of Yunis, said it has been 10 days since her family had contact with her brother.

“I know him. We spoke every day and now I don’t know what’s happened. No warning, nothing at all and there’s still no news of where he is,” she said from Morocco.

She said that when her brother began working for the sheikh three years ago, he started making daily phone calls home.

“I know him, he wouldn’t want to make any problems. Hopefully, God will find him a way,” Kowthar said.

Sky News Arabia said the palace in Doha was raided last Thursday as state security forces “assaulted workers there and took important documents”.

The channel referred to unnamed sources, stating that “the palace of Sheikh Sultan bin Suhaim Al Thani in Doha was broken into last Thursday night by an armed unit from state security forces”.

Mr Al Sadqawi’s family said they had lost contact with him about 10 days ago.

A relative said that she had no news of her brother and asked for information about where the palace staff had gone.

Sheikh Suhaim had spoken out last month against the government in Doha, and in support of Sheikh Abdullah bin Ali’s calls to reassess Qatari leadership. Similar moves to seize Sheikh Abdullah’s assets were made on Saturday.

Sheikh Abdullah lives in Saudi Arabia, and has said he would like to mediate to help end the Qatar crisis. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt have boycotted Qatar and accused its leadership of supporting support for militant and extremists groups.

On Saturday, Sheikh Abdullah said: “The Qatari regime has honoured me by freezing all my bank accounts.”

Sheikh Abdullah belongs to a branch of the Al Thani royal family whose power is much eroded but which remains well connected.

“I wish Qatar … to return to its Gulf brothers as there is no one else to count on,” he said on his Twitter account, which was created only days after the low-profile sheikh gained sudden regional media coverage.

Prior to that, the sheikhs were little known, although Sheikh Abdullah’s grandfather, father, and brother were all rulers of Qatar and had wide followings.

Sheikh Ahmed bin Ali, Sheikh Abdullah’s half-brother, was toppled by Sheikh Tamim’s grandfather, Khalifa bin Hamad.

The Qatari palace endured another coup when Sheikh Hamad, his son, ousted the now-deceased ruler, ending his 23-year rule.

The sheikh left his post as the founder and chairman of the Qatar Equestrian Foundation in 1988 and has lived in Saudi Arabia for decades.