Diplomatic Briefing
Your exclusive news aggregator handpicked daily!Archive for Qatar
Newsline: Qatar to Establish Embassy in Kabul
Afghanistan’s Foreign Ministry says Qatar will open an embassy in Kabul to develop political cooperation. Afghanistan and Qatar have also agreement on opening of Taliban office in Doha. Qatar indicated plans to open the Taliban office to play a greater role in Afghanistan’s peace negotiations with Taliban.
http://www.timesca.com/index.php/m-news-by-category/politics-analyses-and-opinions/6337-qatar-to-establish-embassy-in-kabul
Newsline: Swiss to open embassy in “rising” power Qatar
Switzerland is preparing to open an embassy in Qatar, a country it sees as an increasingly important player in the region. Ambassador Martin Aeschbacher said the small Gulf kingdom “is on the rise” economically. Aeschbacher says relations with Gulf states are growing in importance. Qatar in particular plays a mediator role in the region, something he will be following “close-hand”. The new embassy opening comes against the backdrop of closures of various Swiss embassies worldwide as part of restructuring of the Swiss diplomatic network. The foreign ministry announced earlier that it intended to use some of the freed-up resources for the new embassy in Doha. Aeschbacher is an expert in Arab affairs who has served in posts in Baghdad, Tripoli and Damascus. He has presented his credentials to the Qatari foreign ministry and is due to be received by the emir of the country.
http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/politics/foreign_affairs/Swiss_open_embassy_in_rising_power_Qatar_.html?cid=32306746
Newsline: GCC members to close embassies in Damascus
All the six member countries of the Gulf Council Cooperation (GCC) will shut down their embassies in Syria, GCC chief said on Friday. The GCC countries are taking the step because the Syrian government “chose the military means and rejected all initiatives for resolving the crisis in the country,” said Abdul Latif al-Zayani, secretary general of the GCC. The GCC groups Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait. In February, the GCC members decided to withdraw their ambassadors in Syria and demand that Syrian ambassadors in the Gulf countries leave.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-03/16/c_131470792.htm
Newsline: Suicidal driver crashes into Qatari ambassador’s police escort
Eight Belgian police motorcycle escorts have been injured, five seriously, after a car ploughed into them outside the royal palace in what officials have described as an attempted suicide. The policemen were waiting to escort the Qatari ambassador back from the palace when a car with Belgian tags drove into them, said a palace official who could not be identified under standing rules. She added that the envoy was presenting his credentials to King Albert II at the time. Police spokesman Christian De Coninck said the unidentified driver told officials he wanted to commit suicide. Brussels Mayor Freddy Thielemans said the incident was not terrorism-related. Officials said eight officers were injured, five of them seriously. One was reported in critical condition.
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2012/03/14/Belgian_police_injured_in_suicide_crash_728679.html
Newsline: Syrians hold pro-Assad rallies near Saudi and Qatari embassies in Paris
Supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have taken to the streets of the French Capital Paris to protest the interference of foreign government into Syria’s internal affairs. Chanting slogans in support of the Syrian president, the protesters thronged in front of the Saudi and Qatari embassies in the French capital and condemned the meddling by foreign states, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar, in Syrian domestic affairs. The demonstrators said the interference of foreign countries in Syria is in line with the US and Israeli regime’s policies, demanding certain countries, including the United States and France, to stop interfering in Syrian affairs. Meanwhile, French police adopted strict security measures around the Saudi embassy in Paris. Pro-Syrian government rallies in Paris coincided with similar demonstrations in the Turkish capital on Saturday, where a large crowd of Syrians voiced their support for Assad and his government.
http://presstv.com/detail/216384.html
Newsline: Syria accused over attacks on Saudi and Qatari embassy
Saudi Arabia has condemned an attack on its embassy in Damascus by supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The Saudi and Qatari embassies were stormed by crowds after both countries voted to suspend Syria from meetings of the Arab League. Saudi ArabiaaccusedSyria’s government of failing to take sufficient measures to stop the attack on its building. The Arab League vote came afterSyriafailed to end a violent crackdown on opposition protesters. Syrian authorities said the vote violated the league’s charter, and accused it of serving a “Western and American agenda”. As the result became known on Saturday, groups of protesters gathered outside both the Saudi and Qatari embassies in the Syrian capital. The French and Turkish consulates in the city of Latakia were also attacked, Reuters news agency reports. The Saudi state news agency SPA said hundreds of Syrian government supporters threw rocks at its embassy. Some managed to get in, smashing windows and ransacking the building. “Syrian authorities did not carry out the necessary measures to stop” the demonstrators, the SPA quoted the Saudi foreign ministry as saying. “The Saudi government strongly condemns this incident and holds the Syrian authorities responsible for the security and protection of all Saudi interests inSyria,” the ministry said. Pro-Syrian government supporters also forced their way into the Qatari embassy – climbing to the top of the building to remove the Qatari flag and replace it with a Syrian one. Both the Saudi and Qatari ambassadors leftDamascusin the summer in protest at President Bashar al-Assad’s crack down on protests in the country since March.
Newsline: Qatar shuts its embassy in Damascus
Diplomatic pressure mounted on Syrian President Bashar Assad after Qatar, previously a major supporter, shut its embassy inDamascusand the European Union said it was considering tougher sanctions. Meanwhile, Syria saw its first outbreak of sectarian violence in four months of protests against Assad’s autocratic rule when at least 30 people were killed at the weekend in clashes between rival communities in the city ofHoms. Assad has responded to the unprecedented threat to his rule with promises to reform and offers of dialogue, coupled with a fierce crackdown in which, rights groups say, some 1,400 people have been killed and 10 times more arrested. But the demonstrations have grown in strength and spread from small rural towns to cities the length and breadth of the country. Assad, once courted by the West as a possible moderate in the region, is becoming increasingly isolated internationally, with only Iran keeping up its support. Qatar was a major backer of Syria until protests broke out in March, but relations deteriorated when protesters began to be killed by Assad’s security forces. Qatar withdrew its ambassador from Damascus and closed its embassy last week after two attacks on the embassy compound by militiamen loyal to Assad.
Newsline: Qatar temporarily closes embassy in Yemen
Qatar decided to ‘ temporarily’ suspend its embassy operations inYemenand withdraw its diplomatic mission. The step came due to escalating violence after President Ali Abdullah Saleh refused to sign a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)-brokered initiative for the third time. The decision was undertaken following lack of response to the initiative and appeals to resolve the crisis, the report quoting sources from the Qatari foreign ministry said. The diplomatic mission would resume after violence and fighting comes to an end, and the demands of the Yemeni people and their choices are met, the report said. Qatar earlier this month exited the GCC-brokered initiative to resolve the crisis inYemendue to Saleh’s delay in signing the deal. Embattled President Saleh has balked at the US-backed GCC deal three times since April.
http://www.inewsone.com/2011/05/27/qatar-temporarily-closes-embassy-in-yemen-report/53294
Newsline: Yemen recalls diplomat over Qatar’s resignation talk
Yemen, angry over Qatar’s suggestion that its leader resign, recalled its ambassador to the fellow Arabian Peninsula nation on Saturday as government forces in a southern city cracked down violently on protesters for the second straight day. Presidential guard units controlled by President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s eldest son clashed with protesters in Taiz, firing bullets and spraying plumes of tear gas into crowds of tens of thousands marching next to an elementary school. The deaths of four protesters in Taiz on Friday formed a rallying cry for demonstrations across the country that drew hundreds of thousands of protesters.
Consular affairs: Veni, Vidi, No Visa?
So, you’re all set to head off on an overseas holiday to exotic climes and arrive at the airport secure in the knowledge that your flight has been confirmed, your travellers cheques are nestling in your pocketand your passport in your hand with all the necessary visas. Suddenly, all that hassling with visas seems worthwhile. The hours spent filling out forms, standing in queues, printing out bank statements, hotel reservations and heavens knows what else. You’ve got your visa and nothing can stop you. Wrong. I have discovered that having a visa in your passport doesn’t mean a thing unless the airline on which you are travelling has got your visa details on their computer system. Maybe it’s just when one flies via the Middle East, but twice now family members have damn nearly not got to their destinations because the airlines didn’t have their visa details. Only a few weeks ago my son was flying from Johannesburg via Doha in Qatar to Vietnam for a hiking holiday. When he got to OR Tambo airport and tried to check in, the airline, Qatar, told him there was a problem with his visa. What problem? There it was in his passport all officially stamped by the Vietnamese Embassy in South Africa. It was only after a lot of arguing and ranting that he managed to catch his flight by the skin of his teeth. And when he arrived in Vietnam there was no problem. They just took his passport, looked at the visa, stamped it and said welcome to Vietnam. A while back my wife and mother in law flew from Johannesburg via Dubai en route to Australia for a family wedding. They got to Dubai and when the time came for them to board their connecting flight, the Emirates airline people told them their Australian visas weren’t valid because they were not on the airline’s computer system. After frantic phone calls to Canberra in Australia to verify the visas, they boarded their flight at the absolute last minute. Stressed to the gills and still smarting from being treated as though they were criminals. Now, maybe someone can enlighten me because I get a headache trying to understand airlines. Sure, I can appreciate they need to know if visas are valid so they didn’t get stuck having to return passengers to their country of origin if they are denied access to a country. But, what I want to know is this: Has anyone else had this problem or is it just my family that seems to fall foul of middle-east airlines? How does your visa information get onto the airline computer system in the first place? Who is supposed to do this? The embassy concerned? The travel agent? The passenger? How on earth does one check up to find out if your visa details are on the airline computer ? Then does this only happen when one is flying via Dubai or Doha or does it happen at other major airports?
http://m.news24.com/news24/Columnists/ChrisMoerdyk/Veni-Vidi-No-Visa-20101213
