Saudi police arrest elderly Qatari man and son amid ongoing blockade

Qatar's human rights committee has said Saudi authorities have arrested a 70-year-old Qatari man and his teenage son amid a blockade against Doha led by its Gulf neighbours.

The National Human Rights Committee announced on Wednesday that Ali Nasser Ali Jarallah and his son Abdulhadi were detained in the kingdom.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain broke off relations with Doha in June 2017, accusing the gas-rich emirate of fostering close links with Iran and supporting Islamist extremists.

Qatar categorically denies the charges.

Several Qataris have been arrested in Saudi Arabia since the outbreak of the Gulf crisis.

Mediation efforts, mainly led by the emir of fellow Gulf state Kuwait, have so far failed to break the deadlock.

While the crisis has shaken the politics of the region, it has also had serious impact on the lives of ordinary civilians on the ground.

A report published last month revealed that the blockade had separated families, disrupted imports, including medical resources and construction materials, among other obstacles for Qatar.

In January, the UN's human rights office accused the four countries of orchestrating a hate campaign against Qatar, which included threats to kill the country's emir. 

But more than two years after the blockade,Qatar, which has one of the world’s highest per capita incomes due to its natural resources, has been largely unaffected by the blockade, opening up other avenues of income to offset the blockade’s impact.

Earlier this month, reports confirmed the Maldives is working to restore relations with Qatar after they were severed at the start of a Saudi-led diplomatic and economic blockade of the Gulf state.

Earlier this year, Jordan officially restored relations with Qatar after two years of diplomatic rupture that began at the start of the blockade.

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