Qatar: two years of crisis in the Gulf

Agencies
June 3, 2019

Doha, Jun 3: Two years ago Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and their allies cut ties with Qatar, sparking a major diplomatic crisis in the Gulf region.

Here is a recap.

Simmering regional tensions boil over on June 5, 2017, when Saudi Arabia and its allies Bahrain, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates announced they are severing diplomatic ties with Qatar.

They accuse it of supporting Islamist movements and seeking closer ties with Riyadh's regional rival Iran -- charges Qatar denies.

The four close land and maritime borders with the Gulf peninsula, suspend air links and expel Qatari citizens.

In a country dependent on food imports, there is alarm over whether the border closures will lead to food shortages in Qatar.

Saudi Arabia also closes the Riyadh bureau of Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera.

On June 22 the Saudi-led bloc sends Qatar a list of 13 demands which include shutting down Al Jazeera, curbing relations with Iran and closing a Turkish military base it hosts.

Doha on July 4 rejects the demands as "unrealistic".

Saudi Arabia and its allies threaten new sanctions.

On July 25 they unveil a "terrorist" blacklist of 18 groups and individuals suspected of links to Islamist extremists and to Qatar.

The blacklist grows to include almost 90 names.

Seeking support from outside the region and vowing to uphold its sovereignty, Qatar signs a series of defence deals with foreign powers.

They include a December contract with France for a dozen Rafale fighter jets and 50 Airbus A321 passenger planes, and a deal with Britain to buy Typhoon fighters.

It also buys warships from Italy and F-15 fighter jets from the United States.

In January 2018 it approves legislation allowing 100-percent foreign ownership in most sectors of its economy.

Previously reliant on its Gulf neighbours, it increasingly turns towards Iran and Turkey, particularly for food imports.

In April Qatar ruler Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani says "we do not and we will not tolerate people who fund terrorism" during a meeting in the US with President Donald Trump.

Trump calls him "a friend", softening his tone after having supported the Saudi-led bloc and accusing Qatar of funding terrorism.

In June French daily Le Monde reports that Saudi Arabia threatened military action against Qatar if it acquired Russia's top-of-the-range S-400 air defence missile system.

In late June the dispute moves to the UN's top court, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, where Qatar accuses the UAE of racial discrimination and human rights abuses against its citizens in the Emirates.

The court orders the UAE in July to protect the rights of its Qatari citizens, including by ending measures that would stop Qatari students from completing their studies.

The UAE in May 2019 accuses Qatar before the ICJ of "aggravating" the two-year-old crisis and of "false accusations".

A day later, Qatar accuses the Emirates of a "campaign of violence and hatred" against its citizens.

The UAE detains for a week a Qatari military ship that had violated its territorial waters.

In May 2019 there is the first high-level contact between the opposing sides in two years when Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser Al-Thani attends three regional summits in Saudi Arabia's holy city of Mecca.

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KT
April 14,2020

Dubai, Apr 14: Saudi Arabia reported 435 new cases of coronavirus, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 5369, the Ministry of Health announced on Tuesday.

According to the ministry of health the number of recoveries today are 84 cases, making total of recoveries in the kingdom 889.

The ministry also confirmed 8 deaths bringing the total number of deaths in the kingdom to 73.

Saudi Arabia imposed a 24-hour curfew and lockdown on the cities of Riyadh, Tabuk, Dammam, Dhahran and Hofuf and throughout the governorates of Jeddah, Taif, Qatif and Khobar. This week the curfew was extended until further notice.

Containment efforts
Saudi authorities are racing to contain an outbreak of coronavirus in the Islamic holy city of Mecca.

The total number of coronavirus cases reported in Mecca, home to 2 million people, reached 1,050 on Monday compared to 1,422 in the capital of Riyadh, a city more than three times the size. Mecca’s large number of undocumented immigrants and cramped housing for migrant workers have made it more difficult to slow the infection rate.

Saudi Arabia has reported one of the lowest rates of infection in the region, with around 5,000 cases in a population of over 30 million.

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News Network
March 18,2020

Riyadh, Mar 18: Private-sector businesses in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday were ordered to introduce enforced remote working for all employees for 15 days in an attempt to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Businesses that require staff to be physically present to ensure they continue to operate — including those in vital or sensitive sectors such as electricity, water and communications — must reduce the number of workers in their offices to the bare minimum. This can be no more than 40 percent of the total number of staff.

In such cases precautionary measures set by the Ministry of Health must be followed. At offices, and staff accommodation, with more than 50 workers, an area at the entrance must be provided where temperatures can be taken and symptoms checked.

Employers must also set up a mechanism for workers to report any symptoms, such as high temperature, coughing or shortness of breath, or contact they have had with infected individuals or people who recently returned from other countries without following proper Ministry of Health quarantine procedures.

Inside offices, a safe amount of space between employees must be maintained at all times. In addition, all health clubs and nurseries provided by employers must close.

Pregnant women and new mothers, people suffering from respiratory diseases, those with immune-system problems or chronic conditions, cancer patients and employees above the age of 55 are to be given 14 days compulsory paid leave, which will not be deducted from their annual entitlement.

Businesses that are excluded from the new measures include pharmacies and supermarkets, and their suppliers. Private-sector organizations that provide services to government agencies must contact them before suspending workplace attendance. Any other business that considers it impossible to operate with only 40 percent of staff in the workplace must submit an exemption request to the authority that supervises it.

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Agencies
July 19,2020

Kuwait City, Jul 19: Kuwaiti ruler Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah has successfully undergone surgery early on Sunday, the emir's office said.

"His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah ... has undergone surgery this morning, with thanks to God for its success," the head of the emir's office Sheikh Ali Jarrah al-Sabah said, as quoted by state news agency KUNA.

The 91-year-old was admitted to hospital for a medical checkup.

Yesterday, a royal order was issued assigning Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmed al-Sabah, the emir's designated successor, "to take over some constitutional jurisdictions of His Highness the Emir temporarily"

In August 2019, Kuwait acknowledged the emir suffered an unspecified medical "setback" that required him to be hospitalised.

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