by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
A team led by Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh met Thursday with Qatar’s Foreign Minister Muhammad bin Abdurrahman al-Thani in Doha to discuss the latest developments in Palestine.
The team, including senior Hamas officials Musa Abu Marzuq, Izzat al-Rashak and Maher Obeid, spoke with al-Thani about Israel’s annexation plan, Jewish settlements and the Judaization of Jerusalem.
The team praised Qatar for supporting the Palestinian people.
Al-Thani said his country will continue this approach and support all efforts to ensure national unity in Palestine.
The Fatah and Hamas movements decided to object to Israel’s annexation plan and the so-called “Deal of the Century.”
Hamas and Fatah have remained at odds since the former seized control of the Gaza Strip in mid-2007 after several days of street fighting.
Israel’s new government is expected to present its strategy this month for implementing the “Deal of the Century” proposed by US President Donald Trump.
The plan gives Israel a free hand to annex large parts of the West Bank, including the Jordan Valley, which Israel occupied in 1967.
The West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is viewed as occupied territory under international law, making all Jewish settlements there as well as the planned annexation illegal.
Palestinian officials have threatened to abolish bilateral agreements with Israel if it goes ahead with annexation, which would further undermine a two-state solution.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Dubai : The United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Tuesday complained against Qatar at the World Trade Organization (WTO) due to a ban imposed by Doha on imports from Abu Dhabi.
“The complaint follows a ban of the sale of consumer goods manufactured in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt,” said the Middle Eastern country’s official news agency WAM.
The four Arab countries had imposed a diplomatic, trade and transport boycott on Qatar since June 2017 over charges that it supported terror. Doha denied the charges.
Qatar had removed the names of Emirati companies from lists of approved vendors for infrastructure projects in “undeclared” ban on the UAE, according to WAM.
Qatar gave no excuse to the ban which was another confirmation of “malicious discrimination”, the report said.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani
Doha : Qatar announced a series of agreements with the United Nations that is to see $500 million injected into UN programmes over the next few years.
Qatari Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani and Secretary General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres signed the agreements during the Doha Forum, a conference organised by Qatar and attended by leaders from several countries and other key world figures, EFE news reported on Sunday.
Guterres said the accords represented significant change in Qatar’s relation with the UN, and made the Gulf country a structural partner of the international organisation.
The UN’s International Centre for Counter-Terrorism, created in 2017, is to establish its headquarters in Doha and will receive five million dollars per year from Qatar as part of the deal.
Qatar is also expected to contribute $15 million annually to support terror victims, according to the Gulf country.
Doha will also host offices for UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Commodities, Commodities News, Muslim World
Doha : Qatar on Monday announced that it intends to withdraw from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) after nearly 60 years of membership in order to focus on its plans to increase natural gas production.
The planned January 1, 2019, withdrawal was announced at a press conference here earlier in the day and confirmed by Qatar Petroleum, the state-owned corporation responsible for oil and gas activities, on Twitter.
“The withdrawal decision reflects Qatar’s desire to focus its efforts on plans to develop and increase its natural gas production,” tweeted Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, the country’s Minister of State for Energy Affairs.
He said that OPEC had been informed of the decision, Efe news reported.
Qatar has been a member of OPEC since 1961. It said the organization was aware of its decision to withdraw.
Al-Kaabi said the withdrawal decision reflected Qatar’s aim to increase its natural gas production from 77 million tonnes a year to 110 million tonnes in the coming years.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Dubai : About 18 months after the Arab quartet severed ties with Qatar, “there is still no solution to the spat in sight,” said UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash on Monday.
Referring to an interview by former Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim Al-Thani on FRANCE 24 earlier in the day, Gargash said on his Twitter account that “I agree … that there is no solution to his country’s crisis,” Xinhua reported.
In the interview, Al-Thani, Qatar’s Prime Minister from April 3, 2007 to June 23, 2013, said he was disappointed about Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Al Saud who he said was “not well advised.”
Gargash said he does not think that Al-Thani was “not in a position to give advice to Riyadh and its leadership.”
On June 5 last year, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, cut diplomatic and economic relations with Qatar.
The four accused Qatar of supporting terrorism and destabilizing the region.
However, Doha has rejected the accusations, calling them “unjustified” and “baseless.”
—IANS
