No stars in Qatari eyes

The deal at Al-Ula reflected Qatar’s determination to achieve a close to the three and a half-year boycott, but only on terms that didn’t compromise Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, sources in Doha told GSN. “Qatar has been ready to come to the table for a while, so long as they didn’t have to cross red lines,” a Doha-based analyst said – which would mean not cutting ties with Iran and Turkey, or declaring the Houthis in Yemen or Al-Ikhwan Al-Muslimeen (the Muslim Brotherhood) are ‘terrorists’.