Ikio:
hamas not a terrorist organisation in europe but yes it is in U.S,israel,egypt and maybe canada, but have a long terrorist history, muslim brotherhood is or may soon be in the terror list.

Let's be factual and sincere. Both are not terrorist groups.

The Muslim Brotherhood is almost a hundred years old. If they were not labelled terrorists​since their inception, how can they suddenly become one just because El Sisi wants them so named so as to kill them? An organisation that won their local election in Egypt?

SirJeffry:
Aside the military base in Qatar, they don't contribute much to the fight bro. They seem to be more indifferent to me about it. Trust me, I know that one. I've worked with their troops.

I'm not jumping into conclusion but 90 percent of Muslim countries indirectly support terrorism and Qatar may not be innocent of that allegation.

I trust Iranians more than Saudis though.

Saudi's accusing Qatar is a case of the kettle calling the pot black. ISIS is a creation of Saudi which got out of control.

I am 100% sure that the allegations are just cooked up to fight Qatar for their "insubordination".

Saudi and UAE have many things they envy Qatar for.

Winning the world cup hosting right.
Rising profile of Qatar Airways.
Qatar's influence on the international stage. Etc.

Saudi are still very angry that they lost Qatar which used to be a village of Saudi. They've many times called Qatar their "village that got out of their hands".

I've been a resident in Qatar for more than ten years. I follow the regional politics here.

Ikio:
qatar funds hamas to attack israel ,muslim brotherhood an anti israel organisation to cause trouble for egypt,taliban in afhanistan and have being accused for years now by egypt,israel,uk and U.S.

Are Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood terrorist organisations?

SirJeffry:
Don't you think the allegation is too big to play politics with? Do you know that US joints forces are already working with this information and from Trump's words of (Qatar MUST stop the funding), anything can happen.

Have you read the three posts I gave up there?

Read them and let's talk after. Pentagon, SSS and CIA disagree with Trump on the claim. Trump didn't say his security agencies told him Qatar is funding terrorism; he relies on Saudi! Isn't that dumb of him.

The Saudi have been angry with Qatar since 2011 when Qatar supported the ousting of the deposed Egyptian president (Hosni Mubarak) against Saudis position. Then Qatar's preferred candidate Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood was elected against Saudi's wish. All these have been unsettling Saudi and UAE.

SirJeffry:
I don't trust Saudi Arabia but there is no smoke without fire. Qatar is overly quiet about terrorism and that's worrisome.

Read the posts I put up there.

Qatar is a significant part of the coalition fighting ISIS. USA's largest military base in the middle East is in Qatar and it's from there the coalition launch attack against ISIS in Syria and Iraq.

The terrorists Saudi is referring to are the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas. If you know anything about these two groups, you'd know that Saudi are just looking for any excuse to clip Qatar's wings, out of envy.

SirJeffy, forget all the noise from Saudi, UAE and their servants such as Bahrain, Egypt and Jordan, they are only envious of Qatar's rising profile, success and achievements.

They're pissed off about Qatar's audacity to have independent foreign policies outside what Saudi dictates.

Israel Joins the unhappy party

Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood only come in at number 7 of this demand wishlist. The inclusion of Hamas on this list is another miscalculation, because whatever the US may think about the Palestinian movement, it is popular in the Gulf.

This is where Israel joins the unhappy party. As the hacked emails of Otaiba reveal, the Emiratis and the government of Binyamin Netanyahu are thick as thieves.

The Israeli prime minister is quite right to think that he has the backing of the major Arab states in suppressing all progress to a truly independent Palestinian state. That is about the last thing Egypt, Jordan, the UAE or Saudi Arabia want. The kingdoms are so keen to normalise relations with Israel that a Saudi commentator was recently interviewed for the first time on Israel’s Channel 2.

Read: Israeli figures praise Arab decision to cut ties with Qatar

The Egyptian-Palestinian poet Tamim Al-Barghouti provided a fitting commentary to this. He wrote on the Facebook page:

“On the 50th anniversary of the Israeli occupation of Jerusalem, an Egyptian-Saudi-UAE-Bahraini-Israeli alliance forms and lays ground and aerial siege around an Arab country for no reason other than supporting the Palestinian and Lebanese resistance and the Arab revolutions over the past two decades, in particular the Egyptian revolution that brought down Israel’s ally and threatened the military authority of Camp David in Cairo. They are not punishing Doha over Syria, Libya, Yemen and the American base.

“They are punishing it for Al Jazeera’s testimony in the wars of Iraq, Lebanon and Gaza and for supporting the Palestinian resistance in 2009, 2012 and 2014 and the Lebanese resistance in 2000 and 2006. They are punishing it for the fall of Mubarak in 2011.

“A bankrupt and terrified military officer who suffers from Macbeth syndrome and who is washing his hands of old blood with a new one and an adolescent who is in a rush to become king and who is ambitious to surpass his cousin to the throne at whatever cost chose the fifth of June specifically in order to announce that their countries had just joined the Israeli strategic depth.”

The final miscalculation? Qatar is not Gaza. It’s got friends with powerful armies – a country with a population smaller than Houston has got a sovereign wealth fund worth $335 billion. It is the largest producer of natural gas in the Middle East. It has a relationship with Exxon. The Saudis and Emiratis are not the only players in the lobby game. And even Gaza has survived its siege.

First published on Middle East Eye, 7 June 2017

Miscalculations

Saudi Arabia and the Emirates have now bitten off a little bit more than they can chew.

Their first miscalculation was to buy the Trump narrative. When you purchase a Trump product, you buy a lot more with it. There are side effects, not least the sheer amount of resentment, hostility and resistance Trump himself has created at home.

This is not inconsiderable when you review who resents Trump – the CIA, Pentagon, State Department, senators of all colours, and the judges. This is not just America’s deep state, but if it were only them, they are enough to be going on with.



Yousef Al Otaiba is the current United Arab Emirates Ambassador to the United States.

The much-in-the-news Emirati ambassador to Washington, Yousef Al Otaiba, made the classic mistake of thinking that because he had former defence secretary Robert Gates eating out of his hand, the rest of the defence department would do the same. It plainly did not.

Russia’s US ambassador Sergey Kislyak, now dubbed Washington’s most dangerous diplomat, fell to earth over a similar act of hubris. All of these ambassadors confuse their success as lobbyists with foreign policy-making. The two are different.

Their second miscalculation was to assume that because Qatar was small, no bigger nation would come to its defence. Both Saudi and the UAE have significant investments in Turkey, one of which Abu Dhabi made after it had tried to unseat Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a coup. Both thought Turkey would be bought off.

The opposite happened. Erdogan realised that if Qatar were crushed, he would be the only man of that camp standing.

Their third miscalculation was to reveal their real beef with Qatar. It has nothing to do with funding terrorism or cosying up to Iran. In fact the Emiratis do a roaring trade with Iran, and they are part of the coalition accusing Qatar of siding with Tehran.

Their real demands, which were conveyed to the Emir of Kuwait – who is acting as an intermediary – are the closure of Al Jazeera, de-funding of Al Arabi al Jadid,  Al Quds al Arabi, and the Arabic edition of Huffington Post, along with the expulsion of Palestinian public intellectual Azmi Bishara.

This is the media that reveals – in Arabic – the stories that these Arab dictators most want their citizens not to read. Not content with muzzling their own media, they want to shut down all media that reveals the inconvenient truth about their despotic, venal, corrupt regimes, wherever it is in the world.

SirJeffry:
Live now in a joint press conference with Romanian President, US President Trump names a middle eastern country, Qatar as funder of world terrorism.

He said he was told this by group of middle eastern nations during his tour of the region and urged the country to stop the funding.

He however said there are other countries funding terrorism but said he wouldn't name them at the conference.

Source: Ktla/NBC/CBS/CNN/live now.

CC:Lalasticlala, mynd44

Read this:

Middle East Monitor
Why the campaign against Qatar is doomed

David Hearst | @davidahearst
1 day ago

Emir of Qatar Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani [File photo]
It has been apparent for some time that the war against the Islamic State (IS) group and its forebear Al-Qaeda is by no means the only show in town in the Middle East. In fact, for most of the time, the war on terror has been a sideshow.

The attempt to bring Qatar to heel by closing its borders and effectively laying siege to it has shed light on the real forces competing for dominance of the region in the post-Western world in which we live today.

Three regional blocks are vying for control.

Read: Iran, Turkey and Iraq meet over Qatari crisis

The first is led by Iran – its state actors including Iraq and Syria, and non-state ones the Shia militias in Iraq, Hezbollah and the Houthis.

The second is the ancien regimes of absolute Gulf monarchs: Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, while also including Jordan and Egypt.

The third block is led by Turkey, Qatar, the Muslim Brotherhood and the forces instrumental in the Arab Spring.

In this three-way fight, America’s allies are just as destabilising to regional order as America’s foes, and the campaign launched against Qatar is a prime example of this.

Saudi Arabia has made a strategic miscalculation by attempting to impose its will on little Qatar. Because in so doing, it has upset a regional order on which it relied to confront Iran’s dominance in countries all around the kingdom.

Read: Egyptians fear for jobs in Qatar after diplomatic rift

Put another way, if the Iranian-backed civil war in Syria brought Saudi and Turkey together, the Qatari conflict has done the opposite. In fact, it could lead to the construction of a common cause among Iran, Turkey and forces of Sunni political Islam – as bizarre as this may seem.

The two powers would not fall into each other’s arms naturally, but they could come together amid the reckless and shortsighted policies of Saudi Arabia. The Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif was in Ankara on Wednesday.

Pentagon contradicts Trump’s tweets

The two game changers for Saudi Arabia’s campaign against Qatar are the Turkish parliament’s decision to fast track legislation allowing Turkish troops to be deployed at a base in Qatar, and the statement by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps accusing Saudi Arabia of responsibility for the attack on the Iranian parliament and the Mausoleum of Ayatollah Khomeini in which 12 died.

This leaves Saudi Arabia isolated. It can bully a smaller nation, but it cannot defend its own country without substantial amounts of foreign military support.

Whatever their commander-in-chief may tweet, the US military in the Gulf is trying very hard to avoid having to provide it. Which is possibly one reason why the White House and the Pentagon have been saying different things about Qatar this week.

Read: Trump takes sides in Arab rift, suggests support for isolation of Qatar

Shortly after Qatar’s land border with Saudi was closed at dawn on 5 June, the Pentagon lauded Qatar’s “enduring commitment to regional security”.

It said pointedly about al Udeid airbase, which is the forward base of US Air Forces Central Command, that “all flights continue as planned”. About 10,000 US troops are based there.

Then came Trump’s tweets, which essentially claimed ownership of the extraordinary moves against Qatar by saying they were the fruits of the address he made in Riyadh before 50 Arab and Muslim leaders. And then came a second Pentagon statement, renewing praise of Qatar for hosting US forces.



The Pentagon was joined by Europe, or least the foreign minister of its most important state, Germany. Sigmar Gabriel said: “Apparently, Qatar is to be isolated more or less completely and hit existentially. Such a Trumpization of treatment is particularly dangerous in a region already plagued by crisis.”

Soon after the Turkish decision, Trump was on the phone to the Emir of Qatar offering mediation; 24 hours after his tweet ...

SirJeffry:
Update.


when asked about former FBI Director Comey's allegations against him at the Senate probe yesterday, Trump said he hardly knew him and was willing to defend himself under oath.

Trump is a big fat liar.

SirJeffry:
Seems you are having a bad evening over there. The presidential conference is still ongoing right now sir.

Did you hear the confused incompetent Trump say Saudi was his source of that info?

Trump is very dumb if what the Saudis told him about Qatar is what he's based his conclusion on.

Notasyouthink:
No! You are the one deceiving yourself I asked for a simple proof and all your could give is just "keep deceiving yourself"??

YouTube is your friend. Abi make I dash you data?

Notasyouthink:
When was that?? What proof do you have to back this your lie up??

Keep deceiving yourself.

eyeview:


Nnamdi Kanu and the biafra agitators never asked anyone to leave their soil. They never declared how they will seize another man's property.
Even as an independent nation, they believe other nationals have a right to reside in their country.
The guy made a valid point and I was already interested in an equally brilliant counter from you, but sadly, like always, you resorted to name calling, signifying a lack of point and shallowness of mind.


How old are you?

But Kanu asked his demented followers to kill anyone that is not Igbo especially Yorubas and Hausas?

Una never serious!

serverconnect:
.

Can you prove what you said? Do you think Nnamdi Kanu is PMB that send Fulani herdsmen to slaughter human being by turning deaf ears on them when they kill. Well, I guest you use your gorrila sense when commenting.

Not surprising. It's the IPod yoots way.

smartty68:

@Emboldened, They're the most confused sets of people in Nigeria, beat a child and offer him/her biscuits and ask who beat you, he/she points at someone else - a typical Yoruba man/woman for you!

If they had created alliance with the Southern States we won't be in these mess today but the prefer to worship their pay masters.

Don't blame us for not forming a useless alliance with the Igbos. Sorry to let you know, we don't want to live with Igbos. The other groups in the south are far more reasonable than the Igbos. I have had plenty life experiences with Binis, Urhobos, Itsekiris and many others and I can tell you the group I'm not comfortable with is the Igbos. They're unnecessarily proud, crude, arrogant and violent bar a few of them.

Did the idiot and his likes call for arrest of the useless Nnamdi Kanu when he was asking his senseless followers to kill anyone not Igbo?

All those who urged Kanu on are same people now calling for the heads of Arewa youths. Una dey craze aswear.

I like the Arewa Youths. Their communique is spot on.

Let the Igbos have their referendum and finally get their Biafra if that's what they want.

Yorubas can equally decide if they want out which I'm sure they want. But before anything else, Igbos should go first. Their tendency for violence and aggression to resolve issues is just too much.

This man may be innocent afterall.

The SE leaders are as useless as Dilector Cownu!

Where were they when the idiot was formenting trouble upandan?

Instead of cautioning him and his co-travelers, many of them tacitly urged him on. Some even went as far as greeting him when he was granted bail. If this is not an indication to urge him on, what is?

A stupid man that called Hausas and Yorubas unprintable names and asked his fellow deranged followers and supporters to kill non-igbos is being praised by people who claim to be sane?

Honestly, I want us to go our separate ways. Is there anyone really enjoying the forced marriage apart from the thieving politicians?

No average man, be he ibo, hausa or Yoruba enjoys anything from Nigeria. So, it's right to say we all prefer to go our separate ways.

But wanting to use violence or provoking/insulting others to achieve that is a no no. Supporting Kanu in his hate and violent ways is a sign of madness if you don't know, because if the violence/war breaks out, no one knows how it will end.

Go to Youtube and watch clips of wars of Syria, Libya, Liberia and Iraq. Perhaps you'll have some sense after that.

gypsey:
Absolutely! if they are really serious they should ve given 24 hours ultimatum like you ve asserted, i think they have chosen to give 4 months just to see if the Igbos will have a change of mind within that time.

They have been reasonable by giving enough time. If they gave 24 hours, that'd be crude and unreasonable.

Davash222:
I still maintain my stance, Educated Northerners reason more like an Average Igbo man. Atiku, El rufai are on the list. An Average Igbo man believes that peaceful resolution is the key to sustainable development.

Which average Igbo is reasonable? Which average Igbo believes in peaceful resolution? I suppose Kanu is below average Igbo.

A thread for children of anger, hatred and frustration to avoid.

Ngokafor:




..The fact that white people call blacks animals and beasts with no brains does not mean blacks should act like one..Any violence against Igbos shall be met with an equal amount of retribution...Conduct the damned referenfum,start the process of dis-integration lets see whether Igbis will vote to stay in Nigeria..

....We are not one and can never be one...The fact the Igbos are in Benin republic does not mean they want to be beninoise..same with the north and sw..thats the truth.

Why can't SE conduct the referendum for their own region?
Abi na FG must to conduct one for them?

sinistermind:
These statements are very incitive. Why are they angry at the success of the sit at home order? The Igbos werent violent, so why the threat?

And the non Igbos in the SE region were not affected by that sit at home rubbish?

What of all the past misdeeds of the Igbos including inciting statements and other provocative behaviour?

Abeg, let ibos be real men and move out in droves from the North. SW will follow soon.

Nonsense!

Yeebos know how to beat the drum of war but when a quarter of what they do to others is done to them, they start screaming persecution.

Abeg make Una commot for North. Very soon Una go need to commot for SW.

Odingo1:

We can only take you people serous when Nigerian government announce it and issue the ultimatum and that is what the IPOB is agitating for,their call for independent land of Biafra is directed to Nigerian government.
You are shouting shouting leave SW,leave SW and go where without Biafra.
You cant send your fellow country men parking without dissolution of the country,you want one Nigeria at the same time say that this group of people must leave here,you are deceiving yourself

If anyone is deceiving themselves here, it's you tactless Igbos expecting the FG to announce an ultimatum for you to leave. No government will ever do that and you should know that.

If you're really serious about having your Biafra, IPOB and other secessionist groups of Igbo should do exactly as the Arewa youths have done, and back it up with action. Only then we'll take you serious.

No tribe actually wants to be in the same country with you guys. As unpolished as the Hausas are, they're far better behaved than you trouble makers.

Please leave the North and the SW.

SoNature:


Chai! It pains me that I share the same country with cowards like u people. Igbos are right about you guys after all...cowards!

It's because of your fear for the north that gives them the guts to tell everyone that they were born to rule. This madness has to stop.

I am Igbo...I am not a coward like u. The north should bring it on...I am waiting!

Nonsense!

What else should they​bring on?

Igbos don't want to live in the same country with them and they're saying, oga pack your things and leave our North. Wahala dey dat one again?

And how has Yorubas been cowards here? Yorubas are also saying, Igbos, we're tired of you too. Pack your bags and leave SW.

No be for Igbos to reply in kind remain? That way, everyone will remain in their own region first before we finally divide the country.

kingzizzy:


No problem, but you people should also start supporting dividing Nigeria so that Igbos can get Biafra and go home.

How can you Nigerians be telling people to go and still be talking about one Nigeria? Asking them to go should go hand in hand with disintegration.

Mention just one notable Yoruba man shouting one Nigeria?

Yorubas are more than tired of living with you people (Hausas and the very troublesome Igbos) than the other way round. The only difference is we don't subscribe to stoking hatred, fear and propaganda to achieve it

We're too tired of Igbos. Pls leave SW first. I'm sure the Yorubas in the SE are not up to a tenth the Igbo population in SW.

kingzizzy:


Yet, if the Igbos say they want Biafra, you guys will start shouting 'one Nigeria'

But they're saying you people should go already.

Abeg make Una comot for sw too.

kristian98:
Nigeria keeps getting better when that lazy bone is out of the country. We need more of osinbanjo. It keeps getting better!!!

The thing pain you.

All achievements are still Buhari administration's.