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Bahrain behind anti-Qatar campaign, French paper reports

February 7, 2023 at 9:08 am

A view of the stage ahead of the World Cup trophy ceremony at Lusail Stadium in Lusail City, Qatar on December 18, 2022 [Erçin Ertürk/Anadolu Agency]

Bahrain is behind a judicial and media attack against Qatar in France, an investigation by French newspaper Liberation has revealed.

The newspaper wrote: “The name of this small kingdom does not appear anywhere, but according to our investigations, the judicial and media attack against Qatar in France was remotely controlled from its capital, Manama.”

The newspaper confirmed this through a member of parliament from the Vendee region, Philippe Latomb, of the MoDem party, and a journalist of Moroccan origin, Rachid M’Barki, a broadcaster on BFMTV. M’Barki was temporarily suspended due to suspicions of external interference and an investigation was opened after he would present content live on air which was not checked or edited by those responsible for his nightly news bulletins.

In June 2017, Qatar joined its Gulf neighbours Saudi Arabia and the UAE in imposing a land, sea and air siege on Doha. This came to an end in January 2021, however relations between the countries have not returned to pre-siege levels.

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In December 2022 it was revealed that the European Union Parliament has opened an official investigation into corruption cases and suspicions involving senior officials from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to launch a smear campaign against Qatar coinciding with hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

The leaked documents and evidence reveal that the UAE continues to adopt an incitement approach against many of its neighbours and use an affiliated lobby in Europe to serve this treacherous approach.

Western media and their attack against world cup in Qatar - Cartoon [Sabaaneh/Middle East Monitor]

Western media and their attack against world cup in Qatar – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/Middle East Monitor]