Leak: UAE planned financial war against Qatar

The United Arab Emirates planned to wage a financial war against fellow GCC member state Qatar by targeting the country’s currency “using bonds and derivatives manipulation”, the Intercept reported yesterday.

The site said the warfare plan was obtained from the task folder in the email account of the UAE Ambassador to the United States, Yousef Al Otaiba.

According to the Intercept, the plan was devised by Luxembourg’s private Banque Havilland which is owned by the family of controversial British financier David Rowland, who has close ties with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed.

The Intercept said: “The scheme aimed 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.”Banque Havilland is currently establishing a new financial institution in cooperation with the UAE sovereign wealth fund.

In June, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt severed diplomatic ties with Qatar and imposed a land and air blockade on Qatar accusing it of sponsoring terrorism. Doha strenuously denies the charges.

Read: IMF warns Qatar crisis could weaken GCC economic growth