Qatar must replace words with action

The isolation of Qatar is steadily growing as more countries recognise that its dangerous policies must change. It was an important advance that the United States has publicly backed the efforts of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members to get Qatar to come back to the agreed common GCC policy of fighting terror, refusing to cooperate with the proponents of terror, and ensuring that there is a united front against Iran’s malignant meddling in the internal affairs of Arab states.

On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump tweeted, “Good to see the Saudi Arabia visit with the King and 50 countries already paying off. They said they would take a hard line on finding extremism, and reference was pointing to Qatar. Perhaps this will be the beginning of the end of the horror of extremism.”

This was a significant endorsement of the GCC action against Qatar in order to bring home to its leadership the danger of its errant policies.

Qatar’s Foreign Minister Shaikh Mohammad Bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani made a statement on CNN that Qatar is combating terror financing and “protecting the world from potential terrorists”. The problem is that his simplistic denials of Qatar’s complicity in working with dangerous organisations fly in the face of the facts.

There is no doubt that a full recantation by Qatar would be welcome, but mere words cannot make up for the fact that the Emir has attacked the sceptical GCC position on Iran, and that Qatar gives sanctuary to Muslim Brotherhood members and are helped by the government, despite the Brotherhoods terrorist status.

The government also funds the TV station Al Jazeera that offers a platform to extremist groups everywhere and nourishes its connections with Al Qaida and its affiliates, giving them uncritical and wide coverage.

Qatar has to move on from its ministers making such statements to take decisive action. It has to prove that it means what it says. It needs to distance itself from organisations like Hamas, Hezbollah and the Muslim Brotherhood that are working to destabilise nation-states all over the region. It has to join the UAE and Saudi Arabia in leading the GCC and many other nations in the struggle against terror.

And it needs to make sure that it recognises Iran as a threat to the stability of the Gulf and the Arab world.