Saudi princess slams UAE for alleging Kingdom seeks secularism

Saudi Arabia Princess, Fahda Bin Saud Bin Abdulaziz, the daughter of former Saudi monarch Al-Saud Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, has launched a fierce attack on the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Ambassador to the US, Yousef Al-Otaiba, who recently said that his country seeks “secular governments” in the Middle East in line with Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and Jordan.

Responding to Al-Otaiba’s remarks, Princess Fahda warned in several tweets published on 30 July, that there is “an obvious conspiracy against Saudi Arabia and the Islamic world,” stressing that “the Kingdom’s leaders and people are ready to confront this plot.”

“There are those who call for secularising the country of the two holy mosques and those who call for internationalising the country with the two holy mosques, but we the people of Saudi Arabia and its leadership will protect the two holy mosques.”

https://twitter.com/fahdabntsaud/status/891738163391197184

On Saturday, the UAE ambassador said in an interview with the US-based Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) that the countries which are imposing a blockade on Qatar seek to form future “secular governments” in the Middle East.

“What we would like to see is more secular, stable, prosperous, empowered, strong governments,” Al-Otaiba said.

Read: UAE blocks economic website for publishing ‘false’ news

“In the past ten to 15 years, we saw Qatar supporting groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, Taliban and the Islamic militias in Syria and Turkey. This is the opposite direction which we want the region to go,” he pointed out.

Our disagreement is about what the future of the Middle East should look like and that’s something we haven’t been able to square with the Qataris for a long time

the UAE official stressed.

“If you asked the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt and Bahrain what kind of Middle East they want to see in 10 years, they would have a view opposed to that of Qatar. We want strong, stable and prosperous secular governments.”

#QatarGate

“The willingness to find a solution lies not in Riyadh, not in Abu Dhabi and certainly not in Washington,” he said. “It lies in Doha.”

On 5 June, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt severed economic, diplomatic and transport links with Qatar over its support to extremist groups and has since made 13 demands – later condensed into six principles – for Doha to meet in order for the crisis to be healed. Qatar has denied all the claims made against it.