{"id":465597,"date":"2018-07-03T10:46:31","date_gmt":"2018-07-03T10:46:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mecouncil.org\/?p=465597"},"modified":"2022-09-21T06:24:23","modified_gmt":"2022-09-21T06:24:23","slug":"gcc-news-roundup-saudi-arabias-driving-ban-ends-yemens-warring-parties-agree-to-resume-negotiations-june-1-june-30","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mecouncil-afkar.fuegodigitalmedia.qa\/en\/gcc-news-roundup-saudi-arabias-driving-ban-ends-yemens-warring-parties-agree-to-resume-negotiations-june-1-june-30\/","title":{"rendered":"GCC News Roundup: Saudi Arabia\u2019s driving ban ends, Yemen\u2019s warring parties agree to resume negotiations (June 1 \u2013 June 30)"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAUDI ARABIA THREATENS MILITARY ACTION IN THE WAKE OF QATAR\u2019S INTEREST IN RUSSIAN DEFENSE SYSTEMS<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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According to the French newspaper Le Monde, Saudi Arabia\u2019s King Salman threatened military action against Qatar if the country were to install a Russian air defense system. The newspaper reported that King Salman had written to the French President and had expressed concern over Qatari \u2013 Russian military ties. In 2017 Russia and Qatar signed a military agreement after which Qatar was in talks with Russia for the purchase of Russian S-400 missile air defense systems. According to the letter by King Salman quoted<\/a> in Le Monde<\/em>, \u201cThe kingdom would be ready to take all necessary measures to eliminate this defense system, including military action.\u201d<\/p>\n

QATAR CRITICIZES SAUDI MILITARY THREAT<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Qatar\u2019s Foreign Minister expressed<\/a> his concern over King Salman\u2019s letter to French President Emmanuel Macron, in which the Saudi monarch threatened military action against Qatar. In an interview with Al Jazeera, Qatar\u2019s Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani\u00a0stated that he did not believe the Saudi threat to be serious. However, he criticized the panic inducing disturbance caused by the letter. There is no serious military threat out of this, but the way it is being used to justify or to create a disturbance in the region is just unacceptable,\u201d he said. \u201cThere is no legitimate grievance behind this letter and threatening Qatar.\u201d<\/p>\n

IMPRISONED SHIITE LEADER ACQUITTED IN BAHRAIN SPY CASE<\/strong><\/h2>\n

A Bahraini opposition leader was formally acquitted of espionage charges, marking a distinctive win for the country\u2019s political opposition and activist groups. The accused, namely, Shiite cleric, Sheikh Ali Salman, was the leader of the nation\u2019s largest opposition party, Al-Wefaq and had played a prominent role in the country\u2019s Arab Spring demonstrations in 2011. However according<\/a> to Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, the director of advocacy at the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, the victory of acquittal is not enough: \u201cDespite his acquittal, Sheikh Salman will continue to languish in Jaw Prison for exercising his right to freedom of expression.\u201d The charges against Salman were linked to recorded telephone calls between Salman and Qatar\u2019s former prime minister, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani,\u00a0during the 2011 protests.<\/p>\n

SAUDI DRIVING BAN ENDS<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Saudi Arabia\u2019s ban on female drivers ended as a result of reforms pushed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The historic move<\/a> marked a pivotal moment in the young monarch\u2019s bid to diversify the Saudi economy and to boost foreign investment.<\/p>\n

UAE ADDRESSES QATAR\u2019S DISCRIMINATION LAWSUIT AT UN HIGH COURT<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The United Arab Emirates challenged Qatar\u2019s discrimination lawsuit before the UN\u2019s International Court of Justice<\/a> on Thursday, June 28. The UAE\u2019s defense team alleged that there was substantial evidence of Doha\u2019s, \u201csupport of terrorism, its interference in the affairs of its neighbors and its distribution of hate speech.\u201d During the court session, one of the UAE\u2019s official representatives contradicted the UAE Foreign Ministry\u2019s 2017 directives regarding the expulsion of Qatari citizens from the UAE. According to Saeed Ali al-Nuwais, the UAE\u2019s ambassador to the Netherlands, \u201cThe UAE completely rejects these allegations, all of which are without any merit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier in June, Qatar filed a lawsuit accusing the UAE of the mass expulsion of Qataris, a move considered to be a violation of the obligatory statutes of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.<\/p>\n

YEMENI GOVERNMENT AND HOUTHIS AGREE TO UN-SPONSORED NEGOTIATION TALKS<\/strong><\/h2>\n

On Thursday June 28, U.N. special envoy Martin Griffiths announced<\/a> plans for negotiation talks between Yemen\u2019s warring parties. After a two-year break in negotiations, the Houthis and the Saudi-backed government coalition both confirmed their willingness to participate. Leading up to this announcement, Griffiths had already been in contact with both parties in order to discuss the situation in Hodeida. Earlier in June, the Saudi-led security forces launched an offensive to seize Hodeida. The fighting has unfolded both within and across the city\u2019s airport, which has left millions of Yemeni citizens vulnerable to mass starvation. The Houthis agreed to have the U.N. supervise Hodeida\u2019s port, pending an \u201coverall ceasefire,\u201d which was also accepted by Yemeni government forces. According to Griffiths, the U. N\u2019s management role will begin once a formal agreement has been set in place.<\/p>\n

TRUMP MOUNTS PRESSURE ON SAUDI ARABIA TO INCREASE OIL PRODUCTION<\/strong><\/h2>\n

U.S President Donald Trump tweeted that he had orchestrated an increase in oil production in his talks with Saudi Arabia\u2019s King Salman. The declaration came after President Trump\u2019s continued efforts to pressure the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) into increasing oil supplies. According to The New York Times<\/a>, the Trump administration, \u201chas been signaling that it wants to take much of Iran\u2019s oil exports off the market.\u201d Analysts expressed that the strategy of increased oil production from Saudi Arabia is crucial to the Trump administration\u2019s containment of Iran and to securing some stability in oil prices.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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SAUDI ARABIA THREATENS MILITARY ACTION IN THE WAKE OF QATAR\u2019S INTEREST IN RUSSIAN DEFENSE SYSTEMS According to the French newspaper Le Monde, Saudi Arabia\u2019s King Salman threatened military action against Qatar if the country were to install a Russian air defense system. The newspaper reported that King Salman had written to the French President and… Continue reading GCC News Roundup: Saudi Arabia\u2019s driving ban ends, Yemen\u2019s warring parties agree to resume negotiations (June 1 \u2013 June 30)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":465598,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"publication_archive_type":[297],"class_list":["post-465597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","publication_archive_type-issue-brief","entry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mecouncil-afkar.fuegodigitalmedia.qa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mecouncil-afkar.fuegodigitalmedia.qa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mecouncil-afkar.fuegodigitalmedia.qa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mecouncil-afkar.fuegodigitalmedia.qa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mecouncil-afkar.fuegodigitalmedia.qa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=465597"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mecouncil-afkar.fuegodigitalmedia.qa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465597\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":465600,"href":"https:\/\/mecouncil-afkar.fuegodigitalmedia.qa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465597\/revisions\/465600"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mecouncil-afkar.fuegodigitalmedia.qa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/465598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mecouncil-afkar.fuegodigitalmedia.qa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=465597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mecouncil-afkar.fuegodigitalmedia.qa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=465597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mecouncil-afkar.fuegodigitalmedia.qa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=465597"},{"taxonomy":"publication_archive_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mecouncil-afkar.fuegodigitalmedia.qa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publication_archive_type?post=465597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}