MENA BRIEF, SITREP September 10 – September 17: Middle East and Northern Africa Regional Low Intensity Conflicts.

[HIGHLIGHT]: Qatar

The Qatari diplomatic crisis remains ongoing, and several regional sources have indicated that Saudi Arabia will soon seek to change the leadership of Qatar. According to several sources, the House of Saud will soon insist on a restructuring and replacement of the head of the House of al Thani, the leading house of Qatar. The sources allege that Saudi Arabia has already selected its candidates to head up the sovereign country of Qatar if this becomes a reality.

To facilitate this eventuality, a de facto coup d’etat, several outlets have engaged in a wide media PSYOP campaign, and the behind closed doors diplomatic discourse has harshened. As part of this campaign, a series of false news items have been released. The most recent story, that the Islamic State had issued a statement in support of Qatar, was released on September 8th and debunked by the New York Times within 24 hours. “On Saturday, official Saudi outlets tweeted an apparently fake Islamic State statement expressing support for Qatar,” said the Times.

The ongoing propaganda war on the Doha government has now been ongoing since May, when the Qatar News Agency (QNA) website was hacked. The hack resulted in a statement being published on the QNA website, alleging that Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the leader of Qatar, intended to sever diplomatic relations with the nation’s neighboring states. This was shortly followed up by a hack on the official Twitter account of the Bahraini foreign minister, Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, which stated much the same. The hack on the QNA website was later traced, by US Intelligence agency personnel, to hackers-for-hire affiliated with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government.

In August, DubaiTV aired a report claiming that anti-Government demonstrations in Doha were met by Turkish and Qatari troops firing tear gas at protestors. This story was also proven incorrect. Marwan Kabalan, director of policy analysis of the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies in Qatar stated there is a belief that Saudi Arabia might have in part initiated the operation to “divert attention” away from a New York Post and Independent report that the Saudi embassy in Washington, D.C. had links to the September 11th 2001 attacks.

[BAHRAIN]:

Shia opposition groups continue to call for nationwide protests. Last week’s surge in calls for protests did not appear to have materialized in actual demonstrations or public outcries, resulting in no major or noteworthy protests. Security forces made minor arrests relating to Shia opposition groups.

[OMAN]:

The World Health Organization (WHO) released a report on SEP12 indicating that at least one new case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) was found in August, with the patient being found in the al-Musanaah, al Batinah region, in Oman.

[TURKEY]:

Security forces have continued their nationwide crackdown on safe houses and individuals believed to be affiliated with the Islamic State. Several raids were carried out this past week, resulting in at least 105 individuals believed to have Islamic State affiliations having been detained. In at least one set of interconnected raids at least 25 individuals with suspected Islamic State ties were detained. The raids were carried out across Istanbul, and authorities describe the bulk of the individuals detained as being of “foreign nationality.” The individuals are believed to have been preparing for transit to the frontlines of Syria.

Security forces also continued their long-standing nationwide crackdown on Kurdish safe houses and on individuals believed to be affiliated with the Kurdish opposition. Several raids were carried out this past week, resulting in at least 3 arrests.

[EGYPT]:

Egyptian security forces continued their nationwide operations against safe houses and individuals believed to be affiliated with the Islamic State. According to several local reports, a large IS-cell was broken up in Kirdasah, Giza. Details on the operation are still emerging, but the raid is believed to have been carried out in the early morning of SEP10.

Security forces also continued their operations against safe houses and individuals believed to be affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood and its various breakaway factions. In one large operation on SEP10, security forces raided 2 apartments on Al Tarek al-Abdead Street and Abd al-Ibrahim Street, in Ard al-Lewaa, Giza, seeking to apprehend operatives from the Muslim Brotherhood breakaway faction known as Hasm. During the operation on Abd al-Ibrahim Street an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) exploded, resulting in 8 suspected Hasm operatives dying, and 6 policemen being injured.

SEP13, al-Bitash, Alexandria, Egypt; The Ministry of Interior (MoI) released a statement that Ez Eid Mohamed Maliji, a suspected ranking Hasm militant, was killed during a shootout with security forces. The incident took place during a police raid, where Maliji is described as having opened fire on the approaching policemen. Maliji was wanted for a JUL14 attack against a security checkpoint in al Badrashein, Giza, which resulted in the death of 5 Egyptian soldiers.

[SAUDI ARABIA]:

SEP11, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; The Saudi Government announced that it had arrested members of a “spy ring” consisting of Saudi and foreign nationals. The exact date of the arrest is not yet clear, but it is believed to have happened in the past 3 weeks.

An overlapping report, made hours later by the Ministry of Defence, specified that a terror cell had been broken with several individuals detained. Two of the individuals inside one of the terror cell’s safe house have been identified as Yemeni nationals; Ahmed Yaser al-Kaldi and Ammar Ali Muhammad. A statement through the government affiliated Saudi Press Agency (SPA) specified that the two were carrying suicide belts, and were detained before they reached their intended target destinations. The suicide belts found on the two Yemeni nationals are described as containing 9 “homemade grenades”. Two Saudi nationals were also detained, but have not yet been identified. The story, or stories, are still developing.

SEP11, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Saudi Arabian security forces have arrested the Saudi clerics Salman al-Awdah, Awad al-Qarni and Ali al-Omary. The 3 clerics are known critics of the Saudi Arabian royal house, the House of Saud, and were arrested as part of a series of recent crackdowns on government opponents. Saudi-government affiliated regional news outlets indicated that the 3 are being kept in house arrest.

LIMA CHARLIE, MENA Desk

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