Video still from Al Jazeera Documentary
DOHA: Political experts believe that current siege of Qatar by neighbouring countries is in fact the continuation of the conspiracies being hatched against Qatar for years as is evident from a latest exclusive report of Al Jazeera exposing role of these countries in supporting a foiled coup attempt to overthrow the Qatari government in 1996.
Talking to The Peninsula, Dr Rabia Al Kuwari said that the revelation of Al Jazeera regarding 1996 coup attempt against Qatar exposed the siege countries especially the UAE and its attempt of financing coup in Qatar.
“It revealed their violations against a sovereign country and Al Jazeera by revealing these news stories was a slap on their face,” Dr Rabia Al Kuwari, a Professor and media person said.
On recent provocations made by the UAE by violating Qatar’s airspace, Al Kuwari said that the aim of UAE’s latest violation of Qatar’s sovereignty is to create a war in the region and it is a provocative action that will not stop on this.
He also added that Qatar has informed the UN Security Council and the UN Secretary-General of the latest violation by a military transport aircraft CN-35 of the UAE which violated the airspace of Qatar on March 4.
“Qatar will not keep silent about such violations, and the only organisation having the right to give the final decision is the Security Council,” he added.
Al Kuwari noted that “the one who is under the siege is not Qatar, it is Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt, because they are loosing millions of dollars every day and Qatar has become stronger in this crisis.”
Recently, in an exclusive documentary, (‘Ma Khafiya A’azam’)Al Jazeera uncovered evidence of the involvement of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt in supporting a foiled coup attempt to overthrow the Qatari government in 1996.
The first episode of the investigative documentary incorporates interviews with leaders of the coup attempt who give testimony of the role of these countries played in plotting the overthrow. It also brings to light documents belonging to Saudi intelligence and the Saudi monarch about the plot.
The failed coup, dubbed “Operation Abu Ali”, took place during Ramadan on February 14, 1996, one year after the Father Emir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani assumed the throne.
It was planned in conjunction with the then-police chief Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani.
The documentary reveals that a committee was formed to organise the coup led by Sheikh Mohammad bin Zayed, then chief of staff of the UAE armed forces and current Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi; Sheikh Hamad bin Issa Al Khalifa, then crown prince of Bahrain; Sheikh Sultan bin AbdulAziz, then Saudi minister of defence; Omar Suleiman, the late Egyptian intelligence chief and former vice-president of Egypt.
An Al Jazeera file photo shows the bomb planted at the parking of Immigration Department headquarters.
“A group of men were ordered to raid the house of H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa located on the Al Rayyan Road (in Doha) and place him under house arrest,” one of the coup plotters told Al Jazeera.
While the operation was planned at 5am on February 16, 1996, those carrying out the operation were ordered by the current UAE President H H Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed to execute the plan two days prior to prevent the operation from being uncovered.
After taking control over military and security establishments, the coup plotters were to give the green light for militias to enter Qatar from across the Saudi border.
But the planned coup d’etat was discovered and thwarted.
“If they had seized control, and if the forces had come in - whether from the UAE or the Emirates or Bahrain - they would have had no problem killing whoever they see in the street. They have nothing to lose,” retired Brigadier-General Shaheen Al Sulaiti told Al Jazeera.
The second part of the Qatar ‘96 documentary, revealed the involvement of Sheikh Hamad bin Issa, who at the time was crown prince of Bahrain, in the attempt to overthrow the Qatari government 21 years ago.
The investigation provided evidence of the involvement of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Bahrain in supporting the failed coup d’etat.
Fahd Al Maliki, a prominent leader of the coup attempt, said Bahrain’s Sheikh Hamad bin Issa personally financed a series of sabotage operations and bombings in the Qatari capital. This was done under the pretence of an opposition front against then-emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, father of Qatar’s current emir.
Maliki, who fled to the UAE after the failed coup, said he received $265,000 from Sheikh Hamad bin Issa in return for targeting government institutions, including the immigration department headquarters.
The attack was thwarted when the bomb failed to detonate and authorities found the explosive device in October 1996.
Maliki confirmed he personally contacted Reuters news agency and claimed responsibility for the bombing attempt on behalf of an organisation calling itself The Restoration of Legitimacy. On the other hand the then US ambassador to Qatar, Patrick Thiers, said the intentions of those nations began to become clear after the failed coup attempt. The countries supporting the putsch were trying to oust Sheikh Khalifa because they found Qatar’s independent foreign policy unacceptable, according to Thiers.
The investigation described the extent of support provided to fugitives from Qatar and those involved in the failed coup attempt in February 1996, showing for the first time images of UAE and Bahraini passports granted to members of the Qatari military and coup leaders.
Retired Brigadier Shaheen Al Sulaiti, who was a senior member of the Qatari intelligence service, said Qatar’s security services collected evidence implicating the three countries in the failed coup.
Sulaiti, who was one of the supervisors of the police investigation, said there was intensive communication between Qatari authorities and senior leaders in both the UAE and Saudi Arabia, which led to the extradition of a number of those involved.
According to the investigation, in late 1997 Saudi Arabia handed over to Qatar one of the most prominent leaders of the attempted coup, Jaber Hamad al-Marri, who described the details of his extradition. Marri said he was subjected to torture and insults during the handover by Saudi security forces according to Al Jazeera’s report.
Maliki described the details of his escape from UAE security forces who tried to arrest him and hand him over to Qatar. He said he fled to Yemen before being handed over by authorities there to Doha in mid-1998.
According to Sulaiti, the coup attempt was considered over in 1996 with the arrest of coup leader Hamad bin Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani, who fled to Syria and was arrested in a security operation at Beirut airport.
Hamad, the then-police chief and cousin of the former emir, was taken by plane to Doha. The coup attempt remained active in the Qatari courts, where various sentences were issued, including the execution of a number of coup leaders.
