Qatar lobbyists targeted 250 ‘Trump influencers’

GARGASH SAYS QATAR FACES A LONG AND DARK WINTER

After US President Donald Trump expressed support for the Arab Quartet in their stand-off with Qatar over the regime’s support for extremist groups, Doha came up with a new lobbying campaign, targeting 250 people close to the US president.

According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Joey Allaham, a restaurateur in New York, and his business partner and lobbyist Nick Muzin courted these individuals, the so-called ‘Trump influencers’, including Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, well-known attorney Alan Dershowitz and conservative radio host John Batchelor.

Qatar tried to take advantage of the fact that Trump relies on advice of friends and aides. Allaham and Muzin were paid at least $3 million for their efforts by Doha. They compiled a list of people they thought were close to Trump, sending two dozen to Doha on fully paid trips, while paying some directly. Huckabee was reportedly paid $50,000 by Allaham.

Dershowitz wrote a column supporting Qatar after his trip. He told the paper he felt tricked because he was unaware that the purpose of the trip would be to use him for political gain. In 2017, the year the boycott by Arab Quartet began, Qatar spent $16.3 million on lobbying in the US, up from $4.2 million the year before.

Meanwhile, as these revelations were made, the Qatari ambassador in Washington wrote an opinion piece in the Washington Post accusing the UAE and Saudi Arabia of supporting terror groups in Yemen.

Responding to this, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr Anwar Gargash said this was a continuation of Doha’s muddled policy. “Qatar’s sudden awareness of the Yemeni issue is opportunistic, and is not strange [coming from the] Doha regime. Qatar’s repositioning of policy, and [its closer ties] to Iran will amount to nothing,” Gargash tweeted.

“The ambassador [has only repeated] allegations made by the Muslim Brotherhood concerning the coalition fighting Al Qaida. [This approach from Qatar] will not be fruitful against the backdrop of Doha’s failure to meet its obligations towards Washington on Qatari support for terrorism.”

Gargash said that Qatar has dealt with the crisis with prejudice, conspiracies and the burning of bridges. He said: “Qatar is facing a long, dark winter ahead.”

Comments by the Qatari Foreign Minister, and its ambassador’s article in the Washington Post amount to a public admission of a Yemen policy that is similar to that of Iran and Al Houthis.” Anwar Gargash | UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs