Qatar actively fuelling unrest in Yemen

Muazz Mohamed

Qatar keeps interfering in the affairs of Arab states, even as such a policy is costing the Qatari economy dearly.

Doha is now acting in sync with both al-Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) to implement a dubious plan in Yemen.

According to the Yemeni news agency, Khabar, the Qatari intelligence was instrumental in hammering out an agreement recently between al-Qaeda and ISIS, on one hand, and the Iran-backed Houthi militia, on the other.

The agreement allowed the release of 33 members of the two terrorist organizations from a prison controlled by the Houthis in Yemeni capital Sana’a, in return for the suspension of attacks by the two organizations against Houthi positions in the northern Yemeni province of al-Bayda.

The agreement also commits the Houthis to suspending their advance toward al-Qifa, a district of al-Bayda and a stronghold of both al-Qaeda and ISIS.

The same agreement effects a truce between al-Qaeda and ISIS, especially after the two organizations tried to expand at the territorial expense of each other.

Pleasing everyone

Reports emerged last month about a new Qatari-Turkish-Iranian alliance to sabotage the work the Saudi-led Arab coalition is doing in Yemen.

Saudi political analyst Khaled al-Zaatar referred to this conspiracy on March 17.

He said the three states planned to foil attempts by the coalition to bring calm back to Yemen.

The three countries, he said, are using the Muslim Brotherhood’s party in Yemen, Islah, in implementing their plan.

A Qatari intelligence cell is now operating in Yemen, according to Yemeni media.

The mission of the cell is to spread unrest, especially in the southern Yemeni province of al-Mahrah, the Yemeni media said.