Saudi Arabia Shuts Local Al Jazeera Office For “Promoting Plots Of Terrorist Groups”

Monday, June 5, 2017
By Paul Martin

by Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge.com
Jun 5, 2017

hortly after Saudi Arabia announced it had cut ties with Qatar over Doha’s alleged support for Islamists and Iran, on Monday the kingdom said it had also shut the local office of Al Jazeera, Qatar’s influential satellite channel, and had revokved its license. Riyadh views Al Jazeera as critical of its government, but the outlet says it is an independent news service giving a voice to everyone in the region. The move was announced by state television.

From Saudi press agency SPA, google translated:

The Ministry of Culture and Information closed Al-Jazeera’s office in Saudi Arabia and withdrew its license.

The move comes after Al-Jazeera has promoted the plots of terrorist groups, supported and supported the Houthi militias in Yemen, and tried to break the Saudi internal ranks by inciting them to leave the country and harm the sovereignty of Saudi Arabia.
* * *

For readers confused about the ongoing spat between Saudi alliance and Qatar, Bloomberg has released a convenient Q&A which summarizes the key issues in the latest diplomatic spat:

Saudi Arabia and three of its Arab allies cut diplomatic ties with Qatar on Monday, furious with what they see as the tiny emirate’s tolerant attitude toward Iran and Islamist groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood. The moves by the Saudis, Bahrain, the U.A.E. and Egypt came soon after U.S. President Donald Trump visited the region and joined Saudi Arabia in lambasting Iran for sponsoring terrorism from Syria to Yemen.

1. What’s caused the diplomatic rift?

It’s mostly, but not all, about Iran. The spark for this flare-up was a report by the state-run Qatar News Agency that carried comments by Qatar ruler Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani criticizing mounting anti-Iran sentiment. Qatari officials quickly deleted the comments, blamed them on hackers and appealed for calm. Criticism by Saudi and U.A.E. media outlets escalated after Sheikh Tamim phoned Iranian President Hassan Rouhani over the weekend in apparent defiance of Saudi criticism.

2. So this is a Sunni vs Shiite tension?

Partly. The Shiite-led Islamic Republic of Iran is Sunni-led Saudi Arabia’s main regional rival. The two major oil exporters are on opposite sides of conflicts from Syria to Iraq. In taking diplomatic action, the Saudis accused Qatar of supporting “Iranian-backed terrorist groups” operating in the kingdom’s eastern province as well as Bahrain. But they also
cited Qatar’s support of “terrorist groups aiming to destabilize the region,” including the Muslim Brotherhood, Islamic State and al-Qaeda.

3. Why is the spat taking place now?

The temperature noticeably rose following Trump’s visit. Days after Trump and Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz singled out Iran as the world’s main sponsor of terrorism, Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E. accused Qatar of trying to undermine efforts to isolate the Islamic Republic. Newspapers, clerics and even celebrities attacked Qatar’s Sheikh Tamim; the Riyadh-based Al-Jazirah daily declared that he stabbed his neighbors with Iran’s dagger.

The Rest…HERE

Leave a Reply

Join the revolution in 2018. Revolution Radio is 100% volunteer ran. Any contributions are greatly appreciated. God bless!

Follow us on Twitter