Dubai: The head of the Saudi-American Public Relations Affairs Committee (SAPRAC) has rejected the media onslaught on the UAE Ambassador to the US, saying he is an iconic figure.
“Ambassador Yousef Al Otaiba has always been and will always be a Gulf and Arab iconic figure in the capital of the United States of America,” Salman Al Ansari posted on the social microblog Twitter on Friday. “There is no consolation for those who have paid millions to discredit him.”
The UAE envoy, one of the most influential voices throughout the Gulf crisis that came in the open on June 5, has been a regular target for character assassination in Qatari media; charges of all types have been levelled against him.
On Friday, a Qatari daily placed him fourth on a list of the ten worst figures in the Gulf countries that severed their relations with Qatar for endorsing extremists and funding terrorism.
The daily accused him of having multiple contacts with think-tanks in the US and of delivering lectures.
The list includes diplomats, politicians and media figures, mainly from Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
UAE State Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Anwar Al Gargash, another vociferous voice in the Qatar crisis, has regularly posted on his Twitter account links to interviews or statements given by Al Otaiba as the ambassador explained the reasons that made Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt sever their diplomatic and trade relations with Qatar.
On August 27, he leaped to the defence of Al Otaiba while he ridiculed his nemeses.
“The argument why the UAE has an influential ambassador in Washington is absurd and disrespectful. Yousef Al Otaiba is a national competency that represents a successful and rational policy. The UAE is proud of its sons and daughters."
