The UAEs foreign minister hints at support for 'regime-change' coup in Qatar

Gargash’s solution to the ongoing Gulf crisis implied Abu Dhabi is not content with the current Qatari ruler and wants to see a change in Qatar's leadership

MENA

2 min read

The New Arab

07 June, 2017

UAE foreign minister Anwar Gargash [AFP]

The UAE's foreign minister appeared on CNN on Tuesday, in which he discussed the ongoing spat with Qatar.

"The best solution is for cooler heads to take charge in Doha," Anwar Gargash said, when asked about scenarios in which Doha could end its alleged support for Iran.

Gargash's proposed solution strongly implied Abu Dhabi is not content with the current Qatari ruler and would want to see, or maybe even implement, change in the country's leadership.

Evidence is meanwhile emerging of the UAE's role in orchestrating the 2013 coup in Egypt and the 2016 coup attempt in Turkey.

Read also: 'No legitimate justification' for cutting diplomatic ties, says Qatar

Gargash said Qatar had advocated pragmatism when dealing with Iran, rather than believing in taking more hawkish measures, preferred by many of Doha's regional neighbours.

Qatar's approach is not unique in the GCC. Kuwait and Oman are also known to be promoters of diplomacy, rather than confrontation; something for which Riyadh and Abu Dhabi have not punished them.

Accusations bandied around by Emirati and Saudi Arabian media against Qatar do not add up.

On Monday, an analyst with Sky News Arabia - a 50-50 project between Rupert Murdoch and the UAE's deputy prime minister - had accused Doha of funding both Hizballah and the militant group formerly known as the Nusra front; two factions that are at war with each other in Syria.

Various UAE and Saudi outlets have also accused Doha of siding with the Houthi rebels in Yemen, without providing proof of their claims. These claims came a day after Doha announced six of its soldiers had been injured in Yemen "defending the southern border of the Kingdom [of Saudi Arabia]".

Gargash also rejected the possibility that the campaign against Qatar would lead to the break-up of the six-nation Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC), and denied that Doha would retaliate by cutting gas supplies to the UAE.

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