The first tangible result of Donald Trump's visit to the "Muslim summit" in Riyadh last weekend has been the reopening a long-standing feud among Arab Gulf states. Over the last few days Saudi and Emirati media have been attacking Qatar ferociously, especially over its attitude towards Iran and...
Blog archive: Qatar
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26th May 2017
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25th May 2017Earlier this week a story appeared on the website of Qatar's government-run news agency quoting what it said was a speech made by the emir at a military graduation ceremony. The remarks attributed to the emir brought a furious reaction from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Qatar...
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24th May 2017Hot on the heels of Donald Trump's visit to Saudi Arabia and the festivities surrounding it, a new feud has erupted among the Arab Gulf states. The Saudis and Emiratis are blocking the websites of al-Jazeera and other Qatari news sources. Qatar, meanwhile, says reports of a controversial speech...
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15th February 2017Investigations by Amnesty International have uncovered an elaborate "phishing" campaign which targeted dozens of activists, trade unionists and journalists working on the issue of migrant labourers' rights in Qatar. Amnesty's revelations come just two weeks after the exposure of a separate...
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2nd February 2017While the arrival of Donald Trump at the White House has been greeted with horror in many parts of the world, his fellow autocrats in the Arab Gulf states have been giving him a much friendlier reception. Trump spent an hour on the phone talking to the Saudi king last Sunday. The views of...
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22nd January 2017Numerous social media accounts associated with Voiceless Victims, a mysterious and possibly sinister "human rights" organisation, have been deleted over the last couple of weeks. Voiceless Victims had approached Amnesty International and other established organisations with a view to cooperating...
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11th January 2017The story of Voiceless Victims, the fake human rights organisation that sought to "cooperate" with campaigns supporting migrant workers in Qatar, has taken a puzzling turn. A newly-created Twitter account using the Voiceless Victims logo has begun tweeting about rape and sexual assaults in...
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4th January 2017The 2022 World Cup has turned into a mixed blessing for Qatar. What at first seemed like a brilliant opportunity to showcase the small Gulf state has instead brought a torrent of bad publicity – some because of the way Qatar was chosen by football's corrupt governing body, Fifa, to host...
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24th December 2016A fake human rights group which apparently tried to gather intelligence about genuine campaigners is claiming that its strange behaviour was the result of threats from "the bad guys". The group, calling itself "Voiceless Victims", purported to be campaigning on behalf of exploited...
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23rd December 2016A "non-profit" organisation which claimed to be campaigning on behalf of exploited construction workers in Qatar has been exposed as a fake. Purportedly operating from France, where it used a false address, "Voiceless Victims" contacted several genuine organisations concerned about...
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8th December 2016A British flag flying shamelessly alongside those of repressive Gulf regimes at the GCC summit in Bahrain yesterday signalled the opening of what prime minister Theresa May hails as "a new chapter" in foreign relations. Mrs May has decided that when Britain extricates itself from Europe the...
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6th December 2016Britain's prime minister, Theresa May, is in Bahrain today for the annual summit of the rich autocrats' club, the Gulf Cooperation Council. As the official announcement from Downing Street excitedly points out, she is the first British prime minister – and the first woman – ever to attend...
