Saudi whistle-blower Mujtahid says Riyadh, Abu Dhabi Rebuke Saudi Intelligence Ministry for Wrong Intel on Qatar

Saudi whistle-blower Mujtahid, who is believed to be a member of or have a well-connected source in the royal family, disclosed that Saudi Deputy Crown Prince and Defense Minister Mohammad bin Salman and Supreme Commander of UAE’s Union Defense Force Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan have slammed the Saudi intelligence ministry for providing wrong intel about Qatar.

According to Mujtahid, the Saudi intelligence ministry had estimated a huge loss for Qatar following a severance by Riyadh and its allies of ties with Doha but the developments showed that Qatar had prepared itself for these days.

“Bin Salman and Bin Zayed had thought that (Qatari Emir) Tamim (bin Hamad Al Thani) will make concessions within 24 hours but the response that they received was challenge and continued release of the emails of the (UAE’s) ambassador (to the United States, Yousef al-Otaiba) and other cases,” he added.

According to reports, Riyadh and its regional allies had overestimated the negative impacts of closing their airspaces to Qatari planes, underestimating Doha’s remaining option to use Iran’s airspace by rerouting its flights.

Qatar Airways canceled flights to Bahrain, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates from Tuesday a day after it had suspended flights to Saudi Arabia.

Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt cut off diplomatic ties with Qatar on Monday, and suspended air and sea communication one week after the Arab Islamic American Summit in Riyadh. Later, Libya and the Maldives joined that list of nation that break off diplomatic relations with Doha.

Qatar protested the unjustified decision of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates to cut ties with the country.

“We regret the decision to sever relations,” the Qatari Foreign Ministry said in a statement, adding that “these measures are unjustified, they are based on assertions without foundation.”

“The State of Qatar is an active member of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the [Persian] Gulf [GCC], respects its charter, respects the sovereignty of other states and does not interfere in their internal affairs, and also fulfills its obligations to combat terrorism and extremism,” the ministry stressed.