March 6, 2014 | Quote
Saudi, Bahrain, UAE Recall Envoys to Qatar
In a shock move, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday recalled their envoys to Qatar.
The three countries said the move was taken to “to protect their security and stability,” a Saudi Press Agency statement said.
The trio also said that Qatar had not “committed to the principles” of the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), and said “Qatar has to take the appropriate steps to ensure the security of the GCC states.”
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David Weinberg, Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, who has written extensively on the GCC, told Al Arabiya News on Wednesday: “Ever since the emir of Qatar’s father, Hamad bin Khalifa, came to power in 1995, Doha has had a much more conflictual relationship with Saudi Arabia and thus the GCC.
“It now seems as though that rocky relationship is set to extend into the reign of Emir Tamim as well,” Weinberg said.
“Qatar’s hosting of exiled Muslim Brotherhood leaders from Egypt, its sponsorship of Islamist actors in Syria beyond what other GCC governments have tolerated, and its refusal to put Yusuf Qaradawi on a leash after he questioned the UAE’s Islamic pedigree, all of these are steps that have made it difficult for Shaikh Tamim to persuade his neighbors that they share a common strategic vision,” he added.
“The GCC will always have a place for Qatar, but Qatar will have to convince its neighbors that it deserves a seat at the table,” he said.