Inside Story

What’s behind recent media attacks against Qatar?

Leaked emails from the UAE ambassador to the US show a sustained campaign against Qatar and Kuwait.

Qatar’s official news agency was hacked last week and fake remarks critical of US foreign policy were posted on its website, wrongly attributed to Qatar‘s leader. 

Now, a series of emails belonging to the ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to the US have been leaked.

They reveal close coordination between the diplomat and a pro-Israeli think-tank in Washington DC. 

The emails also show how ambassador Yousef al-Otaiba and the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) lobbied in the US against Qatar and Kuwait.

How will this impact US policy in the Gulf?

Presenter: Hashem Ahelbarra

Guests:

Saad Djebbar – international lawyer

Ian Black – visiting senior fellow at the Middle East Centre at London School of Economics and a former Middle East editor for The Guardian newspaper

Mohammed Cherkaoui – professor of Conflict Resolution at George Mason University