Qatar, June 8: Tensions had been building for days between Qatar and its powerful Gulf Arab neighbours and Saudi’s closure of Qatar’s only land border Monday could lead to price hikes and food shortages in the import-dependent country.
When 31-year-old Ali al-Mohanadi heard Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other nations were cutting ties and severing all transport links with his home country Qatar, he emptied the back of his Land Cruiser SUV and drove to a nearby supermarket. The rift has provoked confusion and anxiety in Qatar, an energy, banking and construction hub, which is home to 2.7 million people, most of them foreigners. Some Qataris were outraged by the state of affairs. Authorities tried to calm nerves Wednesday, releasing a video showing a shop with shelves brimming with food and reassuring Qataris, the wealthiest people in the world per capita and that their quality of life would not be hit.
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But the row over Qatar’s alleged support for Islamist groups has disrupted many aspects of life. Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE and several other countries severed diplomatic and transport ties with Doha Monday, accusing it of supporting Islamist militants and their arch-foe Iran, charges Qatar says are baseless. In further signs of Qatar’s isolation Thursday, the United Arab Emirates’ national postal group said it had suspended all services to Qatar and the UAE aviation authority said it had closed air space for traffic to and from Doha. “The issue is presented to the West as a diplomatic spat … the reality is far worse,” a Qatari diplomat said. “It is a blockade! Like that of Berlin. A declaration of war. A political, economic and social aggression.”
“My mother who is originally from the UAE cannot visit her sick mother, needless to say we will not be able to see my uncles,” said Mohammed, a Qatar University professor, who gave his first name only. “I think it is three things we are scared of: family ties being severed, possible military action and losing the spirit of the Gulf Cooperation Council,” said Mohammed, the professor, referring to the regional political and economic union set up in 1981.
The fact that Qatar’s leader, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, has yet to speak publicly since ties were cut, has made some Qataris uneasy. Even if the dispute is settled, Qataris and other Gulf Arabs worry that the bitter spat which has seen both sides denounce each other as “enemies” and “traitors” of the Gulf has sown divisions and hostility that will linger on. For low-income foreign labourers, the biggest concerns are possible food price rises and job cuts if projects are stalled because of construction materials being held up at the Saudi border.
Reuters
