After the Sheikhs: The Coming Collapse of the Gulf Monarchies (51 page)

88. The Hamdan bin Muhammed bin Rashid Sports Complex.

89.
Arutz Sheva
, 15 December 2010.

90
. OpenNet Initiative press release, 20 November 2009.

91
.
Al-Watan
, 22 November 2010.

92
. Amnesty International press release, 11 February 2011.

93
.
Gulf News
, 2 November 2007.

94
.
Haaretz
, 8 April 2011.

95
.
Al-Hayat
, 5 June 2011.

96
. Fromherz, Allen J.,
Qatar: A Modern History
(London: IB Tauris, 2012), p. 23.

97
.
Gulf News
, 13 August 2010.

98
.
Al-Arab
, 12 June 2011.

99
. Agence France Press, 15 November 2010.

100
. In summer 2010, for example, Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency reported that Israeli military aircraft had landed at a Saudi airbase close to the city of Tabuk in the northwest of the kingdom. Moreover, it was claimed in the Israeli press that Israel was investigating the usefulness of Tabuk as a possible base for striking Iran, and that a senior member of the Saudi ruling family was coordinating the operation. A commercial passenger travelling through the airport was even quoted as saying that all air traffic was closed down without explanation
during the alleged Israeli landings, but that all stranded passengers were compensated financially and housed in luxury hotels.

101
. Wikileaks, US Embassy Abu Dhabi, 16 June 2009.

102
. Cordesman, Anthony H. and Obaid, Nawaf,
National Security in Saudi Arabia: Threats, Responses, and Challenges
(Westport: Praeger Security International, 2005), p. 138.

103
.
Asharq Al-Awsat
, 29 March 2011.

104
.
The Daily Telegraph
, 26 March 2010.

105
.
The National
20 July 2008.

106
. BBC News, 31 January 2011.

107
. Ibid.

108
. Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar.

109
.
Tehran Times Political Desk
, 21 January 2011.

110
.
The National
, 25 May 2009.

111
. Abdul-Aziz bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi.

112
. Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi.

113
. For a full discussion of the 1987 Sharjah coup see Davidson (2008), chapter 7.

114
. Khalifa bin Hamad Al-Thani.

115
. Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani.

116
. Kamrava, Mehran. ‘Royal Factionalism and Political Liberalization in Qatar’,
Middle East Journal
, Vol. 63, No. 3, 2009, p 415.

117
. As referred to in Fromherz (2012).

118
. Abdul-Aziz bin Khalifa Al-Thani.

119
.
Al-Bawaba
, 28 February 2011.

120
.
Fars News Agency
, 12 April 2012.

121
. Khalid bin Saqr Al-Qasimi.

122
. Saud bin Saqr Al-Qasimi.

123
. Oxford Analytica briefing paper on Ra’s Al-Khaimah, 28 October 2010. Written by the author.

124
.
The Guardian
, 28 July 2010.

125
. Oxford Analytica briefing paper on Ra’s Al-Khaimah, 28 October 2010. Written by the author;
Financial Times
, 28 October 2010.

126
.
WAM
, 20 December 2010.

127
. Article 6 of the Omani constitution.

128
. Tariq bin Taimur Al-Said.

129
. Fatima bint Mubarak Al-Kitbi.

130
. See
www.motherofnation.ae

131
. Charles E. Schumer.

132
.
New York Times
, 1 August 2003.

133
.
Press TV
, 26 December 2010.

134
.
New York Times
, 23 October 2010.

135
.
Al-Akhbar
, 3 November 2011.

136
. Reuters, 18 June 2012.

137
. The Sudairi Seven are named after their mother, Hassa bint Ahmed Al-Sudairi, who hailed from a powerful tribe from the interior.

138
. Ahmed bin Abdul-Aziz Al-Saud.

139
.
Associated Press
, 16 November 2011. Talal’s criticism was first voiced in 2007.

6. THE COMING COLLAPSE

1
. Fromherz, Allen J.,
Qatar: A Modern History
(London: IB Tauris, 2012), p. 7.

2
. For a full discussion of the Dubai opposition see Davidson, Christopher M., ‘Arab Nationalism and British Opposition in Dubai, 1920–1966’,
Middle Eastern Studies
, Vol. 43, No. 6, 2007.

3
. Nolan, Leigh. ‘Managing Reform? Saudi Arabia and the King’s Dilemma’, Brookings Doha Center Policy Briefing, May 2011.

4
. University of the United Arab Emirates, in Al-Ayn.

5
. According to a study of the Muslim Brotherhood in the UAE published by
Dar Al-Hayat
newspaper in Saudi Arabia.
Dar Al-Hayat
, 12 September 2010.

6
. Abd Al-Rahim Al-Nashiri was captured in the UAE in November 2002.

7
. Nolan, May 2011.

8
.
Wall Street Journal
, 30 August 2010. With reference to the crackdowns in Saudi Arabia.

9
.
Dar Al-Hayat
, 12 September 2010.

10
.
The National
, 6 April 2010.

11
.
Global Post
, 22 December 2010.

12
. Agence France Presse, 30 December 2010.

13
.
Los Angeles Times
, 23 December 2010.

14
. Filiu, Jean-Pierre,
The Arab Revolution: Ten Lesson from the Democratic Uprising
(London: Hurst, 2011), p. 76.

15
. Ibid., p. 74.

16
. Ibid., p. 75.

17
. Bahrain News Agency press release, 2 May 2011.

18
.
Washington Times
, 23 November 2011.

19
. Regimes have also used ‘deep packet inspection’ to censor private emails. See Filiu (2011), p. 46.

20
.
E.g.
the case of Abu Dhabi’s burgeoning E-Government. See Davidson, Christopher M.,
Abu Dhabi: Oil and Beyond
(London: Hurst, 2009), chapter 6.

21
.
Gulf News
, 30 July 2012.

22
.
Foreign Policy
, 21 September 2010.

23
. Filiu (2011), p. 46.

24
. Ibid., p. xiii.

25
. Ibid., p. 44.

26
. Muhammad Omran.

27
. Referring to Etisalat.

28
.
Arabian Business
, 2 July 2011.

29
.
Kipp Report
, 8 June 2011. Citing the second Arab Social Media Report published by the Governance and Innovation Program at the Dubai School of Government.

30
.
Gulf News
, 31 May 2012.

31
.
Kipp Report
, 8 June 2011;
Time Magazine
, 12 July 2012.

32
. Agence France Presse, 9 February 2011.

33
. This was Al-Sheikh’s initial reaction to Pope Benedict XVI’s Regensburg Lecture on 12 September 2006.

34
.
Asharq Al-Awsat
, 5 February 2011.

35
.
Al-Masry Al-Youm
, 10 April 2011.

36
. BBC News, 22 February 2011.

37
. Reuters, 27 April 2011. Quoting Shadi Hamid, an analyst at the Brookings Center in Qatar and Theodore Karasik, a defence analyst based in Dubai.

38
.
Gulf News
, 28 January 2011.

39
. Hassan Muhammad Hassan Al-Hammadi.

40
. Amnesty International press release, 9 February 2011.

41
. Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan.

42
. Muhammad bin Zayed Al-Nahyan.

43
.
The National
, 9 February 2011.

44
. Reuters, 27 April 2011.

45
.
Ahram
, 30 April 2011. Quoting Khalaf Al-Habtoor.

46
.
Al-Masry Al-Youm
, 23 May 2011.

47
. Dahi Khalfan Al-Tamim.

48
. BBC News, 31 July 2012.

49
.
WAM
, 11 April 2011.

50
. Al-Tayeb Al-Fassi Fihri.

51
.
WAM
, 16 May 2011.

52
.
The National
, 13 September 2011; Reuters, 20 December 2011.

53
. Reuters, 20 December 2011.

54
. Kinninmont, Jane,
Bahrain: Beyond the Impasse
(London: Chatham House, 2012), p. 3.

55
.
New York Times
, 15 February 2011.

56
. Kinninmont (2012), p. 9.

57
. Ibid. p. 10.

58
. BBC Sport, 21 February 2011.

59
. There are, however, many eyewitness reports that Saudi troops entered Bahrain during the various uprisings in the 1990s. See Kinninmont (2012), p. 3.

60
. The exception being a reported Kuwaiti naval patrol.

61
.
Los Angeles Times
, 15 March 2011.

62
. Global Research special report on Bahrain, 10 April 2011.

63
.
Al-Jazeera English
, 30 July 2011;
Express Tribune Pakistan
, 11 March 2011.

64
.
Jakarta Globe
, 19 June 2011.

65
. Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa.

66
. Khalifa bin Salman Al-Khalifa.

67
. Khalid bin Ahmad Al-Khalifa.

68
.
Al-Jazeera English
, 5 August 2011.

69
. BBC News, 2 July 2011.

70
.
The Economist
, 26 November 2011.

71
. Kinninmont (2012), p. 11.

72
. Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja.

73
.
The Independent
, 21 April 2012.

74
. BBC News, 20 April 2012.

75
. Kinninmont (2012), p. 12.

76
. Reuters, 31 July 2012.

77
. Kinninmont (2012), p. 3.

78
. Al-Wefaq Society press release, 30 July 2012. Quoting the ‘Gangs of Darkness’ awareness campaign.

79
. Reuters, 29 June 2011.

80
. Qaboos bin Said Al-Said.

81
. BBC News, 27 February 2011; Reuters, 9 April 2011.

82
.
Gulf News
, 9 April 2011;
Oman Daily
, 8 April 2011.

83
.
Voice of America
, 22 April 2011.

84
.
Gulf News
, 8 May 2011.

85
.
Al-Arabiya
, 14 May 2011.

86
.
Gulf News
, 20 June 2011.

87
. Reuters, 29 June 2011.

88
.
Gulf News
, 22 July 2011.

89
. Referring to Omantel.

90
. Youssef Al-Haj.

91
.
Al-Quds Al-Arabi
, 12 August 2011.