Something brewing in the M.E.? 'Qatar flight ban begins as Gulf crisis grows'

[Spike]

uh-oh


Egypt is closing its airspace to Qatari planes in a growing diplomatic row, with Saudi Arabia and Bahrain expected to do the same on Tuesday. Several countries have cut ties with Qatar, accusing it of supporting terrorism in the Gulf region. Qatari nationals in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have been given two weeks to leave.

Egypt said it was closing off its airspace to Qatar from 04:00 GMT on Tuesday "until further notice". Travel disruption is expected as the airport in Doha, Qatar's capital, is a major hub for international flight connections. Airlines affected will include Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways and Emirates.

When avoiding the massive neighbour to the west, Saudi Arabia, Qatari planes will inevitably have to take longer routes leading to longer flight times. But Qatar's Foreign Minister, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, told broadcaster Al Jazeera the country would "still have access to the world through international sea lanes and international airspace".

Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE closed all transport ties by air, land and sea to Qatar. They gave all Qatari visitors and residents two weeks to leave their territory, and banned their citizens from travelling to Qatar. The UAE and Egypt expelled Qatari diplomats, giving them 48 hours to leave.

Egypt, Yemen, Libya's eastern-based government and the Maldives later followed suit in severing diplomatic ties.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-40168856

--------------------------------------

Al Udeid is a big American base there - I went there for pizza and beer one weekend


Pentagon continues operations at key Mideast air base despite Qatar’s rift with Arab neighbors

http://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/jun/5/al-udeid-air-base-open-to-us-despite-qatars-rift-w/

 

[Tibs]

You can't make this **** up.

Trump Said He Would “Unite the Muslim World.” Then This Happened.
http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/06/qatar-trump-muslim-world

On May 21, President Donald Trump delivered a speech aimed at bringing together the nations of the Middle East against Iran and terrorism. Two days later, the administration claimed Trump had, indeed, “united the Muslim world in a way that it really hasn’t been in many years.” Two weeks later, five Arab countries have broken ties with Qatar, which hosts the biggest U.S. military base in the Middle East. Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen not only recalled their diplomats, but suspended all travel between their homelands and Qatar, and went so far as to demand their citizens leave the Persian Gulf country.

 

[Tibs]

Saudi Arabia revokes all Qatar Airways licences as row escalates
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...-diplomatic-business-ties-banks-a7774976.html

Saudi Arabia has shut down all Qatar Airways offices in its kingdom and revoked the airline's licences, according to the state news agency, as the diplomatic row between the tiny kingdom and its Gulf neighbours widens.

Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE and Egypt cut off diplomatic ties with Doha in a coordinated move on Monday, followed by the internationally recognised governments of Yemen and Libya as well as The Maldives.

Delays and cancellations at airports across the region as the travel ban came into force on Tuesday were the first concrete effects of the escalating crisis.

Saudi Arabia cuts ties with Qatar over terror links

More than 30 flights leaving Doha were cancelled and pictures and videos which emerged of the city's Hamad International Airport showed it to be eerily quiet.

A total of 27 flights from Dubai to Doha were also cancelled, according to various operators' websites.

Qatar Airways, for its part, also suspended all flights to its three Gulf neighbours and Egypt "until further notice".

 

[Tibs]

The Donald is not gonna be happy.

Qatar Airways: The international airline Qatar Airways has had a New York office in the Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. The airline's logo is a variation of the state flag of Qatar and is based there, where Islamic law, or Sharia, serves as the governing legislation.

Trump was a guest at the airline's 2007 gala to celebrate flights to New York and posed for pictures with the company's CEO Akbar Al Baker.

https://mic.com/articles/130070/her...mp-s-middle-east-business-ventures#.12619V3Bi

Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al-Baker's Cozy Relationship With Donald Trump
https://dcaaviation.blogspot.hu/2016/11/qatar-airways-ceo-akbar-al-bakers-cozy.html

 

[Spike]

I bet Obama's Muslim Brotherhood is the reason for this - Arab Spring!




Turkey and Kuwait move to mediate Middle East rift over Qatar

DUBAI — Middle East countries scrabbled on Tuesday to mediate the deep rift between Qatar and several other Arab nations that is threatening to splinter the U.S.-backed regional alliance.

Qatar’s neighbors, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Bahrain were joined by Egypt on Monday cutting ties with Qatar and denouncing it for supporting terrorism in the region.

The eruption of the long simmering dispute into an open rift shocked the region and has threatened the deeply intertwined regional trade links and air routes.

Kuwait has also signaled that it is ready to step in and try to heal the festering rift that threatens to blow apart the region, with Reuters reporting the emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Jabr al-Sabah, is headed to Saudi Arabia for talks with King Salman over the dispute.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...0c031eab644_story.html?utm_term=.44d22a85ed3d

 

[Spike]

yep - I was right again


Obama's Muslim Brotherhood - he ****** things up so bad in Egypt it's still spreading


Arab nations sever diplomatic ties over Qatar's support of Islamist groups.

Saudi Arabia said it took the decision to cut diplomatic ties due to Qatar's "embrace of various terrorist and sectarian groups aimed at destabilizing the region" including the Muslim Brotherhood, al-Qaida, the Islamic State group, and groups supported by Iran in the kingdom's restive Eastern Province.

Egypt's Foreign Ministry accused Qatar of taking an "antagonist approach" toward Egypt and said "all attempts to stop it from supporting terrorist groups failed."

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Midd...t-ties-to-Qatar-as-unrest-in-the-region-grows

 

[Tibs]

I bet Obama's Muslim Brotherhood is the reason for this - Arab Spring!

Your personal saviour and hero just spent several days in the region bragging on how he's brought the middle east closer together. So typical that like a petulant child.you would point to Obama. It is all you people have, as you twist and turn in the ensuing presidential crisis, to desperately cling to Hillary, Obama, Al Gore et al. Sadly for you, it is President Trump - and only President Trump - who is responsible for all this.

 

[Spike]

**** Obama, if you can't see his love for the Muslim Brotherhood caused all that **** in Libya to happen you are blind - in fact, the blood of all the refugees from North Africa is on his hands with his stupid brainless Arab Spring!

Obama and Hillary are both War Criminals - I'd drag them both back for trial for that ****** up plan that back-fired.

 

[SCSteeler4life]

He brought them together you moron. They are know standing united against countries that support terrorism. How you can not see this as good thing is mind boggling. For years on this very board you have said you are against terrorism over and over. Finally some Muslim countries are standing up against it and you *****. You have gone way past pathetic.

 

[Superman]

The Donald is not gonna be happy.




Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al-Baker's Cozy Relationship With Donald Trump
https://dcaaviation.blogspot.hu/2016/11/qatar-airways-ceo-akbar-al-bakers-cozy.html

but, but, but, like you lefties say, "they can't all be bad"
so odd. just yesterday the left was telling us that all violent muslim extremism was done and over. I'd hung banners outside my garage to welcome my new, brown, angry friends into my humble home. Had the woman bake a cake (Halal, mind you) and groomed my dog to look like a goat.

Now... this?! WTF?

 

[Ron Burgundy]

On May 21, President Donald Trump delivered a speech aimed at bringing together the nations of the Middle East against Iran and terrorism. Two days later, the administration claimed Trump had, indeed, “united the Muslim world in a way that it really hasn’t been in many years.” Two weeks later, five Arab countries have broken ties with Qatar, which hosts the biggest U.S. military base in the Middle East. Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen not only recalled their diplomats, but suspended all travel between their homelands and Qatar, and went so far as to demand their citizens leave the Persian Gulf country.

I'd say those five countries are united then. And Saudi Arabia is obviously racist and Islamophobic.
How bad is it when Yemen accuses you of supporting terrorism?

 

[hamster]

He brought them together you moron. They are know standing united against countries that support terrorism. How you can not see this as good thing is mind boggling. For years on this very board you have said you are against terrorism over and over. Finally some Muslim countries are standing up against it and you *****. You have gone way past pathetic.

Tibs has very little understanding of the situation. Trump has re-engaged with our Sunni allies, as a united force against Iranian/Russian hegemony in the region. This may also result in the healing of the Israel/Arab conflict.

And let's not forget the Obama initiative to arm the rebels that later became the JV team. Undoing this idiot's mistakes will not be easy, but Trump is off to a good start.

 

[Spike]

How bad is it when Yemen accuses you of supporting terrorism?

ha ha - that's what I thought too - it's that ol 7th century Muslim thinking again, 'who's prophet is baddest', Sunni vs. Shia

 

[Tibs]

He brought them together you moron. They are know standing united against countries that support terrorism. How you can not see this as good thing is mind boggling. For years on this very board you have said you are against terrorism over and over. Finally some Muslim countries are standing up against it and you *****. You have gone way past pathetic.

Now that is hilarious. Which muslim country - that we're oh so very close with - do you think is biggest supporter of terrorists? Take a wild guess.

 

[Tibs]

but, but, but, like you lefties say, "they can't all be bad" so odd. just yesterday the left was telling us that all violent muslim extremism was done and over. I'd hung banners outside my garage to welcome my new, brown, angry friends into my humble home. Had the woman bake a cake (Halal, mind you) and groomed my dog to look like a goat. Now... this?! WTF?

No, that was your, err unique, interpretation of yesterday's posts. Those had to do with the increasing void that exists between the majority of Muslims and the extremist terrorists who've bastardized the religion.

 

[Tibs]

He brought them together you moron.

I'd say those five countries are united then.

But Spike is arguing that it was Obama that caused this rift not Trump. Make up your damn minds. And if Qatar is now is the muslim country supporting terrorists that the other Gulf countries have ganged up on, wtf is our largest military base in the region - with 11,000 troops - doing there?

 

[CoolieMan]

You can't make this **** up.

Trump Said He Would “Unite the Muslim World.” Then This Happened.
http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/06/qatar-trump-muslim-world

Please explain how exactly having nations unite against a nation that is believed to support terrorist groups is a bad thing?

 

[CoolieMan]

But Spike is arguing that it was Obama that caused this rift not Trump. Make up your damn minds. And if Qatar is now is the muslim country supporting terrorists that the other Gulf countries have ganged up on, wtf is our largest military base in the region - with 11,000 troops - doing there?

It is not like they just built this military base...it has been there since the 90's....

 

[Spike]

Ignore the troll - he doesn't know jackshit about anything


The dumb **** has been 100% WRONG about everything for the past two years, nothing he says matters, losers don't matter

 

[Superman]

No, that was your, err unique, interpretation of yesterday's posts. Those had to do with the increasing void that exists between the majority of Muslims and the extremist terrorists who've bastardized the religion.

but, but, but if the absolute majority are peaceful and loving, then i should be fine. in fact, i feel fine after your reassurance. I'll put the banner up again.

 

[IndySteel]

If Qatar is too terrorist for all those other terrorist countries, that should be a green light to bomb the **** out of them.

 

[Tibs]

If Qatar is too terrorist for all those other terrorist countries, that should be a green light to bomb the **** out of them.

Bomb our own military bases in Qatar? Now that sounds like a plan.

U.S. Military Base Locations, Qatar Region

 

[Roy92040]

Maybe this Qatar is a zit about to be popped?

 

[Tim Steelersfan]

Bomb our own military bases in Qatar? Now that sounds like a plan.

You and Trog are competing for dumbass-of-the-board award...Jesus.

No one's attacking. SHOULD we because of new-found evidence that they are a hot bed for terrorism, you suggest we would bomb ourselves, or that Indy's suggesting that??

Have you stopped to think about what a HUGE advantage it is for us to have 11,000 troops and multiple bases already INSIDE the enemy country??? What better situation by which to launch a military campaign than from the bases we have WITHIN their country. What a HUGE advantage. Like having Kandahar AFB in Afghanistan.

So, should we decide to attack - via bomb or whatever other means - my money's on the USA because we're already behind enemy walls.

You are ******* comedy gold Tibs, I swear.

 

[Tibs]

So, should we decide to attack - via bomb or whatever other means - my money's on the USA because we're already behind enemy walls.

Aha, I see. How obvious, the solution was right there out in the open, for all to see. Yes, let's bomb a country smaller than Conneticut, where we have 11,000 troops currently stationed. That seems like a completely pragmatic, realistic plan. You and IndySteel are up for some military strategy awards, that's a given.

Which one of the skyscrapers are you guys gonna take out first?