Washington: The United States should consider moving its air base out of Qatar, the Emirati ambassador to the U.S. said Tuesday, encouraging the Trump administration to use its leverage to further pressure Qatar over alleged support for extremism.
As the crisis enters its second week, Ambassador Yousef al-Otaiba of the United Arab Emirates said Qatar's neighbours would "fairly soon" give the U.S. a list of specific actions Qatar must take before punitive steps are lifted. He said the list would likely include Qatari sanctions on bank accounts of individuals that Qatar's neighbours have already sanctioned — and possibly on the banks themselves.
"We've gotten fed up. We've had enough," Otaiba said.
In their bid to isolate Qatar by cutting off diplomatic ties, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries have been emboldened by President Donald Trump, who has forcefully echoed their accusations that Qatar funds terrorist groups and foments instability in the Mideast. UAE Ambassador Yousef al-Otaiba said both his country and the U.S. had allowed "bad behaviour" by Qatar to continue for "a very long time."
"If I want to be honest, I think the reason action hasn't been taken against Qatar is because of the air base," Otaiba said, referring to al-Udeid air base, not far from Doha. "The air base is a very nice insurance policy against any additional pressure."
Home to some 10,000 U.S. troops, the base has emerged as a flashpoint in the dispute between Qatar and its neighbours, the worst in the Persian Gulf in years. The forward headquarters of the U.S. military's Central Command is a staging point for U.S. air campaigns in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria.
"Maybe someone in Congress should have a hearing and just say, you know, 'Should we consider moving it?'" Otaiba said. "And maybe not moving the entire base. Maybe just distribute to various countries so you don't have all your eggs in one basket."
Otaiba told reporters that the UAE hasn't told the U.S. it should consider moving the base, but is "willing to have that conversation." And he suggested American troops could be moved to his country, instead. Pointing to new defence cooperation deal the U.S. and the UAE signed last month, Otaiba said the "infrastructure is in place" to have the conversation if the U.S. wanted to relocate.
The U.S. already has some troops in the UAE. The Pentagon has said the new document "provides the U.S. military with the ability to more seamlessly respond to a range of scenarios in and around the UAE, if necessary."
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut diplomatic ties with Qatar last week, accusing it of backing terrorism and promoting policies that destabilise the region. Qatar denies those allegations. Trump has offered Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to help mediate a resolution, but other countries including Kuwait have also gotten involved.
Otaiba said the forthcoming list of demands would centre on three complaints about Qatari behaviour: support for terrorism, meddling in others' internal affairs, and use of state-backed media to attack neighbours.
He said the list would likely include expelling terrorists from Qatar and shutting down or curtailing Qatar-funded media outlets that attack UAE and others. He said al-Jazeera, the Qatari-backed television network that has drawn particular consternation from Qatar's neighbours, would likely be on the list of issues Qatar address would have to address.
The Emirati diplomat said his country was hearing only support from the White House on its move against Qatar, despite Tillerson's call for the UAE and the others to ease the steps they took to isolate Qatar.
"That's not going to happen," Otaiba said.
Still, he said he did not foresee the crisis becoming a military conflict, even if Qatar refused to bow to demands. Even if Qatar does accept the list of demands, Otaiba said they'd have to fulfill specific steps over a period of time to show seriousness before the countries would restore ties to the tiny, gas-rich country.
"There will be an escalation of economic pressure" unless Qatar changes course, Otaiba said.
The United Arab Emirates' ambassador to the United States said on Tuesday there was no military aspect to steps taken by Arab powers against Qatar, which they accuse of supporting terrorism, but that further economic pressure could be applied.
Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt cut ties with Qatar and imposed stringent economic sanctions on it.
Mixed messages from the United States, an ally to all parties in the crisis, also has appeared to complicate the diplomacy in a crisis that has reverberated across the Middle East and beyond.
"There is absolutely no military component to anything that we are doing," UAE Ambassador Yousef Al Otaiba told reporters in Washington.
He said he has been in contact several times with U.S. Defence Secretary Jim Mattis to assure him the U.S. military base in Qatar, Al Udeid, would not be affected by the crisis.
Otaiba said the measures against Qatar were not an attempt to have the base moved "but if anyone asks we'd be willing to have that conversation." He pointed out a defence accord that the United States and the UAE signed last month would allow Washington send more troops and equipment there.
Moving U.S. air operations would involve a massive undertaking by the U.S. military, which coordinates its air campaigns in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan from Qatar.
The countries have designated dozens of people and entities with alleged links to Qatar as terrorists. When asked what further steps could be taken against Qatar, Otaiba said:
"We’ve designated 59 people and 12 entities. It’s likely that you could see designations of their bank accounts and perhaps of the banks themselves. And so there’ll be an escalation of economic pressure, again, short of a policy shift or negotiations that lead to a policy shift."
Otaiba said the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt were compiling a list of demands for Qatar that would be "handed over to the United States fairly soon."
He said they would broadly address the three areas of support for terrorism, meddling in the internal affairs of these countries and attacks through Qatari-owned media platforms.
Otaiba said the four nations are seeking a shift in Qatar's behaviour through economic and political pressure.
"It’s not our goal to undermine the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) but at the same time we don’t want a member of the GCC undermining us," he said.
U.S. President Donald Trump stepped into the crisis by appearing to side against Qatar and accused Doha on Friday of being a "high level" sponsor of terrorism.
Saudi Arabia and Bahrain welcomed Trump's demand for Qatar to stop supporting terrorism.
Otaiba said the White House was supportive of the Arab powers' position. Asked about Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's call for the UAE and other Gulf countries to take de-escalation measures to ease the crisis, Otaiba said, "That's not going to happen."
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