Dubai: The Qatari shaikh who successfully mediated for easing restriction on Qatari pilgrims and for setting up an operation room with a Saudi hotline to assist those in need has urged the authorities in Doha to lift the ban it reportedly imposed on the number.
The ban meant that Qataris could not call the number and get in touch with Shaikh Abdullah Bin Ali Al Thani, the head of the operation room, or his staff and request help in dealing with emergency cases or to request information.
“I urge the officials in Qatar to lift the ban on the number dedicated to the operation room serving Qatari nationals in Saudi Arabia,” Shaikh Abdullah posted to his 290,000 followers on Twitter. “Maybe it is an unintentional mistake.”
Shaikh Abdullah rose to prominence 10 days ago when Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported that Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman Al Saud received him.
Interest in him escalated rapidly after Saudi Arabia announced that upon recommendations from Prince Mohammad, King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud issued a series of orders that included reopening the Salwa border crossing, the only terrestrial link between the two countries that was shut down on June 5 when Riyadh severed its diplomatic and trade relations with Qatar and did not allow any Qatari to come into the kingdom unless it was for Umrah or Haj.
King Salman also ordered that Qatari pilgrims could fly from Al Ahsa and Dammam airports in the Eastern Province to Jeddah or Madinah for free and that Saudi Arabia’s planes would be available to transport pilgrims from the Qatari capital Doha, also for free. An operation room to oversee the affairs and conditions of Qataris during the Haj season was also established with a dedicated hotline.
Shaikh Abdullah apparently succeeded in his mediation efforts where many others had failed.
He was the next day received by King Salman whom he thanked for accepting his mediation and for his decisions to assist Qatari pilgrims and visitors.
Shaikh Abdullah launched an account on Twitter to communicate with the international community and within hours, he was a sensation on the social microblog, with the number of followers hiking up inexorably to reach more than 200,000 within hours.
