Muslim Brotherhood

Last week one of the most significant stories was the sudden break, or rather, apparently sudden break, of diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia, Egypt,…
The post WHAT’S UP WITH QATAR? appeared first on Giza Death Star.

A week into the crisis Saudi Arabia instigated when it broke diplomatic relations with Qatar and imposed a land and air blockade of the tiny Gulf state, it is becoming clear that it is failing to bring Qatar to heel.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, left, and Qatar’s Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani inspect a military honour guard during a ceremony in Doha, Qatar, Dec. 2, 2015.Turkey approved a bill allowing expedited troop deployment to its base in Qatar. (AP/Yasin Bulbul,)

(GPA) — In a move reminiscent of the demands made of Serbia by the Austro-Hungarians on the eve of World War One, Saudi Arabia has issued a strict ultimatum to Qatar and given them 24 hours to comply.
The list of Saudi demands was allegedly sent to Doha earlier today and it is being reported that the Qataris have twenty four hours to comply. The ultimatum is composed of ten requirements for the Qatari government to immediately enact.

Bouthaina Shaaban, Political & Media Advisor to Syrian President, Bashar Al Assad

Of all of the non-Arab countries which publicly proclaimed neutrality over the current Qatar crisis, Turkey’s stated neutrality is the most difficult to swallow. Even Iran whose alleged steps towards semi-normalisation (and even that’s a stretch) with Qatar is a stated proximate cause of the Saudi led dispute, has taken a more neutral position, criticising the act rather than the states who enacted the total shutting off of Qatar from its neighbours and much of the wider Arab world.

Qatar Emir Sheik Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani waits for the arrival of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry ahead of their meeting, at Diwan Palace in Doha, Qatar. (Brendan Smialowski/AP)
Qatar has slammed the decision of three Gulf states, Egypt and the Maldives to sever ties with it on Monday, saying they were “unjustified” and aimed to put Doha under political “guardianship” as Turkey called for dialogue.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu are currently in Cairo meeting with their Egyptian counterparts Sameh Shoukry and Sedki Sobhy, respectively, in the so-called 2+2 format. This is the first such meeting since 2013.
During the talks, both sides spoke of how they can boost efforts to cooperate in the war against terrorism throughout the wider world including in both Egypt and Syria.

Egypt’s Coptic Christians once again find themselves under attack from radical Islamists.
Today, at least 28 were killed and over 26 were injured when terrorists shot at Christians on a pilgrimage to the Anba Samuel Monastery near the city of Minya.
Between 8 and 10 heavily armed terrorists surrounded the bus in trucks before opening fire and slaughtering the unarmed Christian martyrs.

Donald Trump has visited the holy city of Bethlehem for talks with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. Trump gave a rather vague opening address before walking past a dower and downtrodden looking Abbas who heads Palestine’s Fatah party. This was miles away from the friendly ‘first name basis’ with which Trump greeted and clearly enjoyed