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Maldives cuts ties with Qatar

June 5, 2017 | Expert Insights

On 5 June 2017, Qatar said there is “no legitimate justification" for several nations cutting diplomatic ties after Saudi Arabia, Egypt, UAE, Bahrain, Yemen and the Maldives announced they would suspend relations with the Gulf state. The Saudi kingdom made the announcement saying it was taking action for what it called the protection of national security. The Saudi news agency released a statement in which it accused Qatar of "harbouring a multitude of terrorist and sectarian groups that aim to create instability in the region".

The foreign ministry said that Maldives has pursued a policy of promoting peace and stability in the Middle East, and the decision was made because of its firm opposition to activities that encourage terrorism and extremism.

Background

Diplomatic relations between Maldives and Qatar began in 1984. Maldives, a predominantly Sunni Muslim nation with 341,000 people, also grapples with extremism. It reportedly has one of the highest per capital rates of people going to fight in foreign wars.

Egypt’s relations with Qatar have been fraught with tension since the ouster in 2013 by the military of an Islamist president allied with Doha. It also accuses the tiny but energy-rich Gulf nation of supporting militant Islamic groups and meddling in its domestic affairs.

Analysis

Egypt’s foreign ministry says it has given the Qatari ambassador in Cairo 48 hours to leave the country and ordered its own envoy in Doha to return home, also within two days. The announcement came just hours after Egypt joined three of its Gulf Arab allies, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates in severing ties with Qatar over its relations with Iran and support for militant Islamic groups.

Egypt was also suspending air and sea links to Qatar and, citing national security, closing its airspace to Qatari aircraft.

Turkey has voiced its “sadness” over the Gulf Arab states dispute with Qatar and said it was willing to work to normalize ties.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Monday called on all sides of the dispute to press ahead with dialogue and overcome differences in a “peaceful way.” Turkey has developed close ties with both Qatar and Saudi Arabia in recent years. The measures are unjustified and are based on claims and allegations that have no basis in fact," the statement said, adding that the decisions would "not affect the normal lives of citizens and residents". he UAE said in a statement it was cutting off all ties with Qatar. The Qatari embassy in Abu Dhabi asked citizens to leave the UAE within 14 days. 

Economic consequences

The announcements churned financial markets, with the price of oil surging and Qatari stocks and shares falling. This is the most serious political crisis in the region in years; there are two aspects here, political and economic, to put more pressure on Qatar. The official statement here in Qatar is basically that they view the economic condition as part of coordinated effort to further undermine Qatar.

Assessment

Saudi Arabia is said to be the world's largest source of funds and promoter of Salafist jihadism, which forms the ideological basis of terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda, Taliban, ISIS and others. Donors in Saudi Arabia constitute the most significant source of funding to Sunni terrorist groups worldwide. According to a secret December 2009 paper signed by the US secretary of state, "Saudi Arabia remains a critical financial support base for al-Qaida, the Taliban, LeT and other terrorist groups.

Is the aim to impose guardianship on the state? This by itself is a violation of its (Qatar's) sovereignty as a state.