The Saudi Mufti Prohibits giving money for Iftar charity, legitimizes slavery

The Saudi Mufti Prohibits giving money for Iftar charity, legitimizes slavery

    Monday, April 08, 2024   No comments

Saudi Arabia’s highest religious authority, issuing a religious decree concerning the practice of giving Iftar sadaqa in the form of cash (money), provided reference that can be seen as legitimizing slavery despite its abolition all around the world and despite the evidence in the Quran that designated slavery as evil and encouraged Muslims to free slaves when unable to fast, break an oath, or commit other moral or legal infractions. The Fatwa comes in a time when more than 2 million people in Gaza are starved to death and could need cash provided to them through aid organizations who can only receive money from the world community.

According to the Saudi Press Agency, the Grand Mufti of the Kingdom said, the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, Chairman of the Council of Senior Scholars and Chairman of the Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Fatwa, Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al Sheikh, issued a ruling that giving Zakat al-Fitr in money is not valid “because that is contrary to the Sunnah of the Messenger of God, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him. May God bless him and grant him peace and the Rightly Guided Caliphs who used to remove it from food.”

The Saudi Mufti added that “Zakat al-Fitr has been prescribed for all Muslims, males and females, old and young, free and slaves.”

It should be noted that other Sunni schools of law consider giving iftar charity in the form of cash (or anything of value), to be valid.

The kingdom has been run through an arrangement that granted Wahhabi scholars from Al Sheikh clan, religious power in return for their blessing of the form of governance in the kingdom under the control of the Al Saudi clan. Saudi Arabia’s official religious practices are derived from the Wahhabism, the strictest religious sect in Islamic societies and Wahhabi religious figures use textual evidence irrespective of rational facts and changed circumstances. The same sect is followed by members of al-Qaeda and the “Islamic State”.

The "Taliban": "we destroyed 18 Iranian border facilities in total"

The "Taliban": "we destroyed 18 Iranian border facilities in total"

    Sunday, May 28, 2023   No comments

Taliban is stil driven by the same supremacist ideology that founded it; that appears to be the conclusion one can draw from the statements of its leaders about the recent clashes at the border with Iran.

A statement issued by the Taliban's Social Communications Department read: "The Iranian Revolutionary Guards carried out terrorist attacks from its huge border posts. Iran has not put up a strong resistance so far. It seems that its army is weak and feminine."

For his part, the leader of the "Taliban" movement, Abdul Hamid Khorasani, stated in a video speech: "Do not test our strength. You are behind the scenes with the Westerners. We are true Muslims. If the sheikhs allow us, we will seize Tehran."

Saudi Religious Rulers: There is no validity to apostasy law in Islam

Saudi Religious Rulers: There is no validity to apostasy law in Islam

    Sunday, January 22, 2023   No comments

For years, the Saudi political rulers used the fictitious apostasy law to kill political opponents, religious Salafi authority found the fictitious bases for the political rulers to do so. Now with the Saudi political rulers changing their tune about apostasy, the Saudi Religious Rulers are preparing the ground for them to change apostasy law. An influential Saudi religious authority just declared this: "There is no validity to apostasy."

Tolerance with regard to leaving the Islamic religion in Saudi Arabia, or what is known as apostasy and the apostate from Islam, was not permissible or open to discussion.

“There is no punishment for apostasy unless the apostate is against the ruler.”

However, as the Kingdom entered the era of openness, rational voices began to address these controls, the latest of which was what Ahmed Al-Ghamdi, the former director of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, dared to do, and his writing of an article entitled “There is no validity until apostasy.”

Al-Ghamdi said in his article, which sparked controversy among Saudis, that what is established in the court texts of the Qur’an is the freedom of man in his faith, and that there is no compulsion in religion. Abstract apostasy is an explicit, coherent, correct text that cannot be challenged.

Al-Ghamdi added: I will explain here the response to the suspicions of this objection, as follows: First: They argued with what the two sheikhs included in their Sahihs on the authority of Ibn Masoud, who said: The Messenger of God said: “The blood of a Muslim who testifies that there is no god but God and that I am the Messenger of God is not lawful except in one of three “A life for a life, the married adulterer, the one who separates from his religion and the one who abandons the group.” They said, “This is a report in the Two Sahihs that states that the apostate should be killed.” I said: This hadith is incorrect, and it is not accepted that it is clear for the following: First: Its chain of transmission is weak, because its effect is on the most basic, and it is fraudulent. He narrated it with cursing, and what he cursed will not be accepted from him.”

The Saudis were divided over Al-Ghamdi's interpretations. Some of them found that he inferred false evidence, and its purpose was to waste God's law, and some of them found that Sheikh Al-Ghamdi is leading a battle of thought and enlightenment against the extremists.

Those who rejected Al-Ghamdi’s article invoked what Ibn Taymiyyah said in Al-Sarim Al-Masloul: Apostasy is of two types: an abstract apostasy, and a severe apostasy, the law of killing in particular, and both of them have established evidence that the owner must be killed.

The Saudi authorities were leveling accusations of apostasy, not only with regard to leaving Islam, but those charges included insulting the divine being and the Prophet Muhammad, and criticizing the Saudi state for applying the provisions of Sharia, for example, the charges that were leveled against the Palestinian poet Ashraf Fayyad, and a death sentence was issued against him. Then it was commuted to 8 years in prison.

Saudi Arabia has not yet abolished the “punishment of apostasy,” and in some cases replaces its mandatory punishment with death, with imprisonment.

Saudi Salafi Religious Leaders rebuke Taliban over Women Education Ban

Saudi Salafi Religious Leaders rebuke Taliban over Women Education Ban

    Saturday, December 24, 2022   No comments

 The largest Saudi religious body calls on the Taliban to reverse the ban on girls from university education and affirms that “preventing women from education is not permissible in Islamic law.” The Afghan government orders civil organizations not to allow women to come to work

Today, Saturday, the Saudi Council of Senior Scholars called on the Afghan government to enable Afghan women the right to education in educational institutions, and to reverse its decision to prevent women from doing so, noting that preventing women from education is not permissible in Islamic law.

And the Saudi Council of Senior Scholars stated in a statement today, Saturday, that “Islam, with its tight legislation and its complete constitution, preserves every human being, male and female, his rights,” and lists his duties, according to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

The commission, which is the largest religious body in the Kingdom, affirmed that “Islam, with its rulings and legislation, preserves the legal rights of women completely and undiminished, so women enjoyed, under this true religion, their rights that preserve their humanity and preserve their dignity. diverse science, and participated in the Muslim community throughout history in its renaissance, leadership and prosperity.

The Council of Senior Scholars noted, “At the forefront of the rights that Islam has preserved for women is the right to education, as the legal texts that encourage and encourage learning tend towards women as well as towards men.”

Last Wednesday, the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed the Kingdom's surprise and regret at the decision of the Afghan caretaker government, led by the Taliban movement, to prevent Afghan girls from having the right to university education.

Last Tuesday, the Taliban decided to ban university education for women in Afghanistan indefinitely, according to a letter sent by the Ministry of Higher Education to all public and private universities.

The letter, signed by Minister Nada Muhammad Nadeem, said: “I inform you all to implement the aforementioned order to stop female education until further notice.”

The ban on higher education for women comes less than 3 months after thousands of them took university entrance exams across the country.

"Serious complaints have been received regarding non-compliance with the Islamic headscarf and other rules and regulations related to women's work in local and international organisations," the ministry responsible for approving licenses for NGOs operating in Afghanistan said in a letter seen by AFP.

In its letter addressed to international and local non-governmental organizations, the ministry added that “in the event of neglecting the guidance … the organization’s license will be revoked.”

Two non-governmental organizations that spoke to AFP confirmed that they had received the letter from the ministry.

"We are suspending all our activities as of Sunday," a senior official of an international organization involved in humanitarian work in several remote areas of the country told AFP, on condition of anonymity. "We will soon hold a meeting of senior officials from all NGOs to decide how to deal with this issue," he added.

Likewise, another official working for an international non-governmental organization concerned with food distribution said that the ban is “a big blow to female employees.”

"We have a large number of female staff to address concerns about humanitarian assistance to Afghan women," he added, asking, "How do we address their concerns now?"

Dozens of international and local NGOs operate in various sectors in various remote areas of Afghanistan, and many of their employees are women.

In response to the latest decision, the UN Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan, Ramiz Alakbarov, said the ban was "a clear violation of humanitarian principles."

The Sunni-Shia Cold War: The Origins and Evolution of the Saudi Hegomony

The Sunni-Shia Cold War: The Origins and Evolution of the Saudi Hegomony

    Tuesday, November 15, 2022   No comments

There has been a Sunni-Shia cold war going on since 1979, but hardly anyone talked about it in those terms. That is because, in part, the rulers of Saudi Arabia chose to conduct this cold war through proxies or from the shadows. Then, Wikileaks ended the Saudi rulers' abilities to project power and influence, especially as a Sunni moderate power, in secret and the rise of the young, ambitious prince, MBS as he is known, to power while his father is still the nominal figurehead allowed them to deflect blame for any and all missteps. However, during a long tv interview in 2017, MBS revealed all the cards: He described his clash with Iran as an existential one because he sees Iranian leaders and Shia, in general, as irrational actors who hold on to messianic belief about the coming of a savior--which makes them unworthy of dialogue and diplomacy.

Wikileaks' documents described the Saudi war on Iran from behind the scene succinctly and clearly. The Saudi leaders, according to the diplomatic cables, while publicly expressing dialogue with Iran, pushed US and European leaders to go after the "head of the snake", instead of fighting Iran's proxies. The framed it as a need to liberate Iran, as Biden said recently, they wanted the West to unleash a direct war on Iran, not rely just on sanctions. Those revelations forced Saudi and Emariti leaders to emerge from the shadows and attack Iran directly--but not militarily of course. They focused instead on a strategy that aims to unravel the entire political system of Iran from within. 

The new "leak" of documents from UAE shows how the strategy was developed and executed. The Lebanese newspaper, Alakhbar, produced a dossier about these developments. Other researchers and observers have compiled more evidence about the Saudi investment in media assets to realize their goals: the paralysis and destruction of the Iranian system of governance through internal Iranian actors.

_______________

From Alakhbar Dossier about Saudi-UAE Leaks: When Mohammed bin Salman stated the above sentence, in answer to Dawood Al-Sheryan's question about dialogue with Iran, he was announcing what was not usual in Saudi foreign policy, in what was termed "transferring the battle to the Iranian interior." Many at the time, when interpreting what Ibn Salman said, said that Riyadh would resort to what it used to do in terms of employing ISIS cells and the operations that separatist movements in Sistan-Baluchestan had long carried out in the Iranian depths. However, in the documents obtained by Al-Akhbar, it becomes clear that Ibn Salman meant targeting the Iranian interior, through a plan to influence the Iranian youth group, in parallel with the intensification of the discourse of demonizing Iran, directed at the Arab and Islamic audiences.

“We will not wait for the battle to be in Saudi Arabia, but rather we will work so that the battle for them is in Iran and not in Saudi Arabia.”

Deputy Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia

Mohammed bin Salman

3 May 2017

On the morning of January 2, 2016, the world woke up to the news of the execution of Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr and a group of al-Qatifi youth, along with a group of Saudi officials and cadres of al-Qaeda. Angry reactions continued inside and outside Salman’s kingdom, and the night of that day closed. On the scene of the burning of the buildings of the Saudi diplomatic mission in Iran by angry Iranian youths.

Four days later, on January 6, the Emirati National Media Council was presenting to representatives of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain a proposed plan that he called the “media strategy for dealing with the Iranian file”, which developed in subsequent years, in coordination with the Americans, to become the “plan to undermine Iran.” From the inside.”

The proposal for the media strategy put forward by the Minister of State and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Media Council in the UAE, Sultan Al Jaber, stated that the goal behind it is to “build a public opinion hostile to Iranian policies from the internal and external public,” and that the strategy “centers on the political dimension and away from the sectarian discourse that It may weaken the public media discourse if it is relied upon. And most importantly, “the results of the strategy should be achieved after years.” In the initial proposal, as document No. 1 shows, the target audience is regional public opinion, Gulf public opinion, domestic public opinion inside Iran (the Iranian people and non-Persian Iranian minorities in particular), and the Iranian opposition abroad and at home. It is noteworthy in the “implementation partners” paragraph that the Emiratis mentioned the “Organization of Islamic Cooperation” as a partner in implementing the strategy, along with the official Gulf entities, the League of Arab States, and Iranian think tanks and opposition, noting that the Islamic Republic of Iran is an original member of the aforementioned organization whose decision-making is dominated by Saudi Arabia and harnessed. interests since its inception.

Read full dossier (Ar)...

 

A Saudi prince claims Western bias, comparing the wars in Ukraine and Gaza

A Saudi prince claims Western bias, comparing the wars in Ukraine and Gaza

    Monday, August 08, 2022   No comments

A Saudi prince responded to the sympathy of the Ukrainian ambassador in Israel: The hypocrisy of the West and its double standards have exceeded all limits.. People in Ukraine in the eyes of the West are not like people in Palestine

The Saudi prince, Abd al-Rahman bin Musaed, said, "The hypocrisy of the West and its double standards have exceeded all limits... People in Ukraine in the eyes of the West are not like people in Palestine."

The Ukrainian ambassador to Israel, Yevgeny Kornichuk, expressed his “great” sympathy with the Israelis, which a prominent Saudi prince considered “hypocrisy.”

In a tweet published by the Ukrainian embassy in Israel, Cornicheuk said: “As a Ukrainian whose country is under a long-term brutal attack by its closest neighbor, I feel great sympathy for the Israeli people.”

Cornichuk added, “Terrorism and attacks against civilians have become a daily routine for Israelis and Ukrainians. We have to put an end to this. We pray for peace and hope for an end to the escalation soon,” before the shooting stops between Israel and the “Islamic Jihad.”

It is a good sign that even the Saudi ruling family is moved by the plight of vulnerable peoples and outraged by the disproportionate use of force. But it is not clear if the Saudi ruling family would have the same sympathy and concern for civilians living in Yemen, a country that has been under Saudi armed attack, sanctions, and isolation killing thousands of children and pushing poverty in that country to record levels.

Religion and Culture, emerging Chechen Islam': Muslims in Russia bring home an Olive Tree linked to the Prophet Muhammad and produce the first hand-written Quran

Religion and Culture, emerging Chechen Islam': Muslims in Russia bring home an Olive Tree linked to the Prophet Muhammad and produce the first hand-written Quran

    Wednesday, July 27, 2022   No comments

The president of the Republic of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, visited the Mufti of the Republic, Salah-Khadji Mezhiev. The visit, the president said, "is undertaken when wise guidance is needed. He shares his knowledge with me, gives advice, tells a lot of interesting things about our religion. For me such meetings are very valuable."

He learned that after performing the Hajj, the Mufti visited Jordan for an olive tree sprout, "under which the venerable Prophet Muhammad ﷺ rested." Through the efforts of Sheikh Salah-Khadji, "a piece of this beautiful, centuries-old tree is now in our republic. Without any doubt, his work for the benefit of the Muslims of the Chechen Republic is noble and priceless," said Kadyrov.

The Mufti also shared with the president the result of the painstaking work of the renowned Syrian calligrapher of Chechen origin, Shukri Kharacho, who was tasked by the president to create a handwritten Quran, designed in Chechen styles. Shukri Kharacho managed to realize the unique style of Arabic writing and at the same time maintain simplicity for reading. After authority checks and reviews by an independent commission, this work will go into mass printing, the president explained.

Since the end of the war and the election of the first Kadyrov to the presidency, officials have embarked on two-track strategy: economic development and spiritual growth. Both plans involved support from the federal government of Russia. In order to limit influx of youth joining the Wahhabi-Salafi fighters, the leaders realized that they need to provide economic opportunity while redefining Sunni Islam in a way that does not conflict with local customs and historical legacies.

Ten years ago, Ramzan Kadyrov, during a meeting with religious leaders, he stressed the need to match spiritual development to the pace of economic development:

"The republic's economy is developing, cities and villages have been restored, but without a spiritually developed and highly moral society, the republic cannot have a future. Spiritual and moral education should be a priority for you. Therefore, you need to clearly coordinate your work and involve public organizations in it."

The level of growth in both areas is stunning as these images illustrate.

  

Who armed ISIS? A three year study provides some answers

Who armed ISIS? A three year study provides some answers

    Thursday, December 14, 2017   No comments

Supplies of materiel, including advanced light weapons systems the U.S. military, from foreign parties — notably the United States and Saudi Arabia, ended up in the hands of ISIS fighters.

This report is the result of more than three years of field investigation into Islamic State supply chains. It presents an analysis of more than 40,000 items recovered from the group between 2014 and 2017. These items encompass weapons, ammunition, and the traceable components and chemical precursors used by the group to manufacture improvised explosive devices.

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From Saudi Arabia, an ambitious prince is putting Southwest Asia on Edge

From Saudi Arabia, an ambitious prince is putting Southwest Asia on Edge

    Sunday, November 05, 2017   No comments

ISR Comment: Those who doubted that the Arab Spring would ever affect the richest Arab kingdom, Saudi Arabia, should consider the events that involved that country since this current king took over.

 Besides its involvement in wars in Syria and Yemen, the ambitious crown prince is now purging the country from rivals and imposing a crushing authoritarian order. After his father signed a long list of royal decrees, including giving MBS broad powers to arrest and imprison under the pretext of fighting corruption, it has been reported that 11 princess and a number of current and former government officials were arrested. Some in Lebanon believe that their prime minister is one of those placed under detention order. These articles provide some insight.

• Saudi Arabia's Mohammed bin Salman: Reformer and hardliner 
  
• Saudi Arabia carries out major purge, cementing crown prince's power 

++++++++++

Royal decrees as published by Saudi media:

 

Trump’s Sword Dance Sets Off the War of the Wahhabis

Trump’s Sword Dance Sets Off the War of the Wahhabis

    Thursday, June 15, 2017   No comments

Screenshot of a comment in a related story on DW.

by  Pepe Escobar

US President Donald Trump could not possibly have predicted the game-changing after-effects of his triumphal sword dance in Riyadh.

Or could he?

The fact is the House of Saud went amok, in a flash, going after Qatar and bombing from the inside that glorious Arab NATO project – call it NATOGCC — sworn with pomp over a glowing orb.

An excited Trump tweeted three times his approval for Riyadh going after Doha.

  
       Trump and NATOGCC had equaled Daesh and Iran as “terrorists”. The House of Saud went one up — and denounced Qatar for top terror financing, which equals Don Corleone hurling Mafioso accusations against Tony Soprano.
But then, in an unexpected plot twist, Daesh, handily, graphically, underlined the cosmic stupidity of the whole charade – staging, or at least claiming to stage a terror attack against the Parliament and the Imam Khomeini shrine in Tehran.

The current Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad al Thani, now “guilty” for not blaming Iran as the root of all evils in the Arab peninsula, might even be following the steps of his own father, Hamad, who invented modern Qatar and deposed himself – under Saudi pressure – in favor of his son in 2013.

We can’t forget that Bandar bin Sultan, a.k.a. Bandar Bush, notorious former top assembler/weaponizer of jihadis, and frustrated “liberator of Syria”, had famously described Qatar in the past as “300 people and a TV station”.

So what is really going on in this noxious petrodollar swamp?

The Israel-UAE connection

Let’s cut to the chase and establish that this nasty inter-GCC cannibalization has nothing to do with the Global War on Terror (GWOT).

Among massive disinformation crossfire, a trail of evidence points to a concerted strategy elaborated by the Israeli lobby (via the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, founded, among others, by nefarious casino schemer Sheldon Adelson, and very close to Bibi Netanyahu); US neocon/Ziocon/neoliberalcon elements; and the UAE ambassador in Washington, Yousef al-Otaiba.

Leaked emails have shown how Otaiba – widely idolized in the Beltway because of his “largesse” – and the neocon Foundation for Defense of Democracies have discussed means of teaching Qatar a lesson for its support of Hamas, and overall non-confrontational policies towards Iran. Otaiba also happens to be close to Jared Kushner – which would explain Trump’s reaction to the anti-Qatar blitzkrieg.

Unlike Qatar, the House of Saud and the UAE are one step away from establishing diplomatic relations with Israel – the sine qua non condition imposed by Washington to insert Israel in an anti-Iran Arab NATO guided by Riyadh.

A previous row in 2014 offers additional background. Regional intel operatives confirm at the time there were military Emirati maneuvers not far from the Qatari border; London and Paris, for instance, knew all about it.

Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (Source: islamhere.org)

But the head of the House of Saud in charge at the time was the late King Abdullah, who was in fact an appeaser. The Head-Chopper-in-Chief now is Warrior Prince Mohamed bin Salman, a.k.a. MBS, an arrogant twat who’s already, miserably, losing a war on Yemen — conducted with billions of dollars in US and UK weapons — that has provoked a horrific humanitarian crisis in the poorest nation in the region. It is MBS who ordered the Saudi demonization of Qatar.

Let me out of the terror train

The “terra terra terra” shorthand, for the House of Saud, applies mostly to the accusation of Qatar supporting Shi’ite protest movements in eastern Saudi Arabia. That’s ridiculous; Doha is not involved.

And then there’s the accusation of Qatar supporting Islamists. That’s exactly what powerful Saudi donors – many linked to the monarchy – do.

Doha does support, big time, the Muslim Brotherhood – which has not much to do with al-Qaeda and/or Daesh, and is hated with a vengeance by Riyadh and its puppet al-Sisi in Cairo, who survives on Saudi handouts. What powerful Qatari donors did (up to $3 billion) was support al-Qaeda in Syria, a.k.a. Jabhat al-Nusra, which vast US neocon/neoliberalcon sectors brand as “moderate rebels”.

The Saudis, meanwhile, supported their own jihadis in Syria – and elsewhere. WikiLeaks has unequivocally proved how “donors in Saudi Arabia constitute the most significant source of funding to Sunni terrorist groups worldwide”.

Apart from complex tribal rivalry issues, the key religious factor is that Qatar – unlike Saudi Arabia – is tolerant towards non-Salafis, or “revolutionary” Salafis like the Muslim Brotherhood, and does not try to globally export its version of Wahhabism. For all practical purposes, hardcore Saudi imams consider Qataris heretics. As if they’re almost as bad as “apostate” Shi’ites.

The schism has translated, in practice, into a proxy war in Libya for example. Doha supports Islamic militias in Misrata as well as those faithful to the “Mufti of Qatar” Sadiq al-Ghariani. The Emirates and Egypt support Gen. Khalifa Haftar, the chief of the self-styled Libya National Army (LNA).

It’s a gas, gas, gas
 

  
Saudi intel disinformation agents are spreading that

    “Turkey and Qatar are the last two states run by the Muslim Brotherhood. Most probably Qatar will experience a change of regime and exit being the bankroller on behalf of Britain to support all kind of chaos in the region, and that include playing from behind the scenes with Teheran.”

Utter diversionist nonsense. The plain fact is the House of Saud is absolutely desperate. Oil price remains low, around $50 a barrel. The monster Saudi IPO on Aramco is only 12 months away. The House of Saud needs to move the markets towards a higher oil price by any means necessary – ultimatums and threats of war included.

A non-ideological US intel source goes further, stressing how

    “Turkey, Iran and Russia are moving closer together. The question remains who will control the Gulf States and the oil price — which was being manipulated so far to destroy Russia. The deal between Saudi Arabia and Russia is really just a minor improvement.”

So no wonder obfuscation remains the norm – with narratives taking attention away from the House of Saud and placing it on Iran, and now also Qatar.

And then there’s the key Pipelineistan angle, mixed with how Qatar as a natural gas powerhouse is immensely annoying OPEC producers Saudi Arabia and UAE.

Qatar is the largest global exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG). That’s what has allowed it to shape a foreign policy completely independent from the House of Saud. Add to it that Qatar’s fabulous gas wealth yields from the massive offshore North Field, shared with Iran (who controls what it calls South Pars).

There’s been speculation, obviously unconfirmed by Tehran and Doha, that Iran and Qatar may have reached an agreement on sharing the rights for a gas pipeline from North Dome/South Pars to the eastern Mediterranean in Syria, as long as Doha stops supporting al-Nusra.

Were that to happen, it would signal the spectacular closure of one of the key motives for the Syrian tragedy. The Obama administration had fully approved a Qatar to Turkey – via Saudi Arabia and Syria – gas pipeline as a means of trying to undermine Gazprom. It took a lot of dead bodies and horrific destruction for Doha to realize Moscow would never allow it.

Thus Qatar’s strategic pivot towards Russia – materialized, for instance, via Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund investing $2.7 billion in Rosneft. This may be spelling out, in the medium term, a Qatar way more amenable to the Russia-Iran-Syria connection. Considering that Qatar hosts CENTCOM and is home to Al-‘Udayd, the largest US military base in the Middle East, that certainly does not go down very well at the Pentagon.

As far as the US game is concerned, it’s terminally naïve to believe Washington would not have provided a green light to its Saudi satrap to go after Doha.

Add to it Qatar opening the first yuan clearing center in the Middle East; that’s something that did not go down well with financial Masters of the Universe. In parallel, the much-lauded Trump $100 billion weapons deal announced in Riyadh may have been devised in exchange for the House of Saud delaying as long as possible Chinese oil payments in yuan that would bypass the petrodollar.

To weave conspiracy theories is an idle undertaking. “T.Rex” Tillerson, from his ExxonMobil days, knows the Qatari leadership quite well. And so does “Mad Dog” Mattis, former head of CENTCOM. Watch them; how they act in the follow-up will unveil at least some layers of the current shadow play – and whether the whole charade packs way more punch than mere House of Saud desperation.
 

______________________

Copyright © All rights reserved. Pepe Escobar, 2017. Originally published on Sputnik.