UAE plot to wage financial war on Qatar revealed

A plan for the UAE to weaken Qatar’s economy was found in the email account of Yousef-al-Otaiba, the UAE ambassador to the United States, according to The Intercept.

The investigative news website said on Thursday that it had received the information from the Global Leaks company.

Global Leaks is not to be confused with the Milan-based software company GlobalLeaks.

The leak adds to a long list of revelations from Otaiba’s inbox and comes amid tensions in the Gulf.

In June, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia the UAE and Egypt cut off diplomatic ties with Qatar and imposed a land, sea and air blockade after accusing it of supporting terrorism.

Qatar has strongly denied the allegations.

The document obtained by The Intercept further hints towards a plan to strip Qatar of its role to host the football World Cup 2022.

The UAE would, according to the plan, launch a PR campaign drawing attention to Qatar’s financial weakness, making the case that Doha is unable to afford the sporting event.

The plan to weaken the economy was prepared by Banque Havilland, a Luxembourg-based bank.

“[The outline] laid out a scheme to drive down the value of Qatar’s bonds and increase the cost of insuring them, with the ultimate goal of creating a currency crisis that would drain the country’s cash reserves,” The Intercept reported. “There is no conclusive evidence the plan has been initiated, nor that it will ever be launched.” 

To read the full report in The Intercept, click this link