Baku, Azerbaijan, June 8
By Rufiz Hafizoglu – Trend:
Qatari authorities need to take several concrete steps to resume the “fraternal relations” with certain Arab states.
Expulsion of one of the leaders of the Palestinian Hamas militant group from Qatar should be the most important step by Doha. Qatar should also stop supporting the Muslim Brotherhood organization, as well as severe too close relations with Iran, because, according to a number of Arab states, it is namely Tehran that supports terrorism in the region by using Hezbollah militant group and Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah movement.
It is obvious that the Arab states, which regard the Muslim Brotherhood as their main enemy, don’t mind that the authorities in Doha also expel Egyptian Islamic theologian Yusuf al-Qaradawi, who is considered one of the ideological mentors of the Muslim Brotherhood, from Qatar.
It is noteworthy that back in 2014, Egypt demanded that Qatar expel Yusuf al-Qaradawi, but Doha rejected such demand of the Cairo authorities at that time.
However, a completely different situation is emerging today. Probably, the Arab states were able to agree on something for the first time, and this agreement is aimed against the Arabs themselves.
In this regard, one can state that if Qatar expels Yusuf al-Qaradawi and Khaled Meshaal, the leader of Hamas and its former political bureau chief, from Doha, it is quite realistic that the neighboring countries will restore diplomatic relations with Doha.
But the question arises: which country can receive Yusuf al-Qaradawi and Khaled Meshaal in case if Qatar decides to fulfill the conditions of its neighbors?
Today, the expulsion of Khaled Meshaal is not a very difficult task for Qatar, because Meshaal is no longer head of the Hamas political bureau since the end of May this year. Ismail Haniya was elected head of the Hamas political bureau in the Gaza Strip.
That is, in case if Qatar expels Meshaal, he can safely move to Iran, just like it was before the crisis in Syria.
As for Yusuf al-Qaradawi, his resettlement to Iran is excluded, although it should be noted that even the members of the Muslim Brotherhood are Sunnis, they had close ties with Iran before the Syrian crisis.
Given this, one can say that if Qatar decides to expel Yusuf al-Qaradawi, there is significant possibility that he will nevertheless move to Turkey, since this is the most optimal choice for him.
It turns out that the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas severed relations with Hezbollah militant group and Iran namely due to the military conflict in Syria.
There is no doubt that the Qatari crisis may play the role of a catalyst for the changes in the Syrian crisis with the Free Syrian Army’s joining efforts with Hezbollah and the government troops of Syria against the common enemy, the so-called Islamic State (IS aka ISIS/ISIL).
The case is that no matter what global media outlets report about Qatar’s supporting the IS, in fact Qatar supports only the FSA, which fights against the IS, Hezbollah and the Syrian government troops.
---
Follow Rufiz Hafizoglu on Twitter: @rhafizoglu