Dubai: Chief advisor at the Saudi Royal Court, Saud Al Qahtani, has lashed out at Qatar’s former foreign minister Shaikh Hamad Bin Jassem Al Thani in an escalating war of words on Twitter.
On Friday, Shaikh Hamad Bin Jassem, who was prime minister from April 2007 to June 2013, and foreign minister from January 1992 to June 2013, criticised Saudi Arabia, accusing it of failing to raise above trivialities in dealing with challenges to intra-Gulf relations and being unworthy of settling disputes.
He added that Riyadh typically distanced itself from polemics but by allowing itself to engage in diatribe against Qatar it has now lost its previous status.
Everyone, leaders and peoples – knows that Qatar is working fully to interfere in the domestic affairs of the four countries, mainly Saudi Arabia.
However, Al Qahtani, rejected the claims calling it an “obvious oversimplification of the crisis”.
“You are the first to know the repeated Qatari excesses and violations of pledges. Everyone, leaders and peoples – knows that Qatar is working fully to interfere in the domestic affairs of the four countries, mainly Saudi Arabia,” he tweeted.
The Quartet has repeatedly accused Qatar of interfering in their internal issues and of supporting terrorists, inciting them to carry out acts of sabotage that would harm the economy and undermine stability.
On June 5 Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt severed their diplomatic, trade and travel relations with Qatar, accusing it of supporting extremists and funding terrorism. They also accused Qatar of failing to honour the agreements its emir signed in Riyadh in 2013 and 2014 to ensure there is no interference in the domestic affairs of their countries.
Attempts to mediate between the two sides, led by Kuwait, have failed to achieve a breakthrough or any incremental change.
Qatar sought to internationalise the issue in a bid to bring international pressure on the Quartet to soften their position while the four countries have been saying that the solution was in Riyadh, not abroad, and that Doha knew exactly what to do to defuse the crisis and that until then, they had more much important matters that required their attention.
Two agreements were reached by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries – Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates- in order to end a major crisis with Doha that included pulling out ambassadors from Qatar for months.
Al Qahtani insisted that there would be no solution to the crisis without Riyadh’s involvement.
“No one in the world can impose anything on us,” he wrote accusing Qatar of conspiring with former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to divide Saudi Arabia.
He was referring to two 2003 audio recordings which surfaced last year of former Qatar Emir Shaikh Hamad Bin Khalifa and Shaikh Hamad Bin Jassim with Gaddafi, attacking Saudi Arabia and the royal family.
In one conversation, Shaikh Hamad Bin Jassim said that Saudi Arabia would no longer exist in 12 years and that the kingdom would be divided into small states.
“Riyadh never conspired with foreigners against Qatar. Riyadh never planted in your country or in any other country cells and groups to destroy states. Riyadh had forgiven you for conspiring with Gaddafi, for conspiring to assassinate the Saudi king, for funding Saudi opposition and for setting up media platforms targeting Saudi Arabia. Riyadh is the capital where decisions are made,” Al Qahtani said.
He added that Riyadh would not be harmed by a country ”whose size equals one of its neighbourhoods”.
“This is the Riyadh of [King] Salman Bin Abdul Aziz who gave you multiple chances to change your attitude and distance yourself from adolescent behaviour.”
