Is Qatar fueling the unrest in Saudi Arabia?

A prominent political activist says that the Qatari monarchy seek to increase instability in Saudi Arabia by encouraging protests and bribing members of the royal family and military

Press TV
December 27, 2011

Press TV has conducted an interview with Ali Al-Ahmed, director of the IGA, to further discuss the issue.

The following is a transcript of the interview.

Press TV: In the audio file, which has gone viral on the Internet, Qatar’s prime minister says his country will overthrow the Saudi regime. Press TV contacted the Qatari embassy here in Tehran but they refused to comment. What do you make of remarks by Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem Al Thani? What changes are in the offing in the Persian Gulf Arab countries?

Al-Ahmed: In fact, this tape was made in Damascus in April of 2008. And it included two tapes which included remarks also by the Emir of Qatar to the late Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, that the regime of Saudi Arabia will collapse because of the aging monarch who are not allowing younger princes to have power.

It is very clear to me that the Qatari monarchy itself is planning, supporting, recruiting and courting many members of the ruling family and also of the Saudi military in order to repeat the Libyan scenario in Saudi Arabia, and maybe even take back part of Saudi Arabia that Saudi Arabia took away from Qatar, maybe even have some influence or control over the oil fields in the eastern region.

This will increase the size and influence of the Qatari monarchy. I believe they feel confident, they feel that they can do this. And they are doing it. They have done this in Libya and they are trying to do the same thing in Syria.

• A d v e r t i s e m e n t

Maybe Saudi Arabia will be the next project for Qatar. This is a country that has spent money to even make a movie called “Black Gold” to, basically, give that message.

Press TV: In the recording, Qatar’s prime minister says that the US and Britain “want to get rid of the Saudi regime while they are afraid of any new Islamic regime in the region.” Does this mean Washington and London are against the popular revolution in Saudi Arabia but they will support military intervention or a coup by Qatar in Saudi Arabia?

Al-Ahmed: I think we have seen this in Libya. The Libyan government was able to convince the West – France and the United States, especially – of supporting certain elements in Libya who are Islamists and were even members of al-Qaeda at one point.

So, maybe the same thing will happen in Saudi Arabia where the allies of Qatar in Saudi Arabia will take a leading role in the change in that country. If this happens, we will see a breakup of the country.

And Qatar will be responsible for that breakup because that is the best scenario for the Qataris. They would like to see a divided Saudi Arabia, a weakened Saudi Arabia so Qatar’s power will be supreme in that region.

Press TV: Mr. Ahmad, that highly depends on how the situation is when we are speaking domestically.

Again, according to the recording, Qatar’s prime minister has said: “The regime of King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud is exhausted and powerless to control the country, and that the army cannot confront the future changes.” How true is his description of the Saudi regime?

Al-Ahmed: I think there is some exaggeration. However, it’s true that the monarchy is old and cannot respond to popular pressures. We have seen an increase in discontent and a failure of the government to stop the peoples’ outrage.

So, he is correct in the fact that Saudi Arabia will see more instability. However, I think he is exaggerating regarding their inability to keep everything together. Right now, they have been able to do that. I think this will change maybe in a few months when we see a sharp increase in popular discontent.

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This article was posted: Tuesday, December 27, 2011 at 10:40 am

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