Dalia Ziada

Egyptian leadership will welcome the Qatari investments in its booming energy sector.

On December 13th, the oil giant “Royal Dutch Shell plc. (commonly known as Shell Company)” announced selling 17% of its project rights in oil and gas blocks in the Egyptian Red Sea, to Qatar Energy. After government approvals from both sides, this will be the first time ever Qatar make direct invests in the Egyptian oil sector. On one hand this indicates how strong the relationship between Egypt and Qatar has become, since the Gulf Reconciliation agreement in January. But most importantly, it refers to how strong the Egyptian economy, especially the energy sector, has become an attraction to giant oil investors from the Middle East region and beyond.

The Qatar Energy investments in the Egyptian Red Sea oil and gas explorations, will allow Qatar to acquire 17% stake in each of Block 3 and Block 4 operated by Shell Exploration & Production (93) B.V., which is a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell plc. Meanwhile, Shell, which owns 43% of Block 3 and 21% of Block 4, will remain the operator of both blocks. Another Gulf investor in the same project is the Emirati Mubadala Petroleum LLC., which owns 27% in Block 4. Besides, two Egyptian companies are investing in the project: BHP Petroleum (Egypt) Limited with 30% in Block 3 and 25% in Block 4, and the Egyptian Tharwa Petroleum S.A.E. with 10% in Block 3 and 10% in Block 4.

Shell sold the shares to Qatar Energy and the aforementioned investors based on a Farm Out Agreement (FOA), which is a type of contract which enables an existing project participant to add new parties to the project by selling a percentage stake in the venture. For the agreement to be put in effect, the Egyptian government and parliament must endorse the procedure. Given the positively developing relationship between Qatar and Egypt, it is highly likely that the Egyptian leadership will welcome the Qatari investments in its booming energy sector.

Since the signing of Al-Ula agreement, during the Gulf Summit, held in January, Egypt and Qatar have been determined to fix their torn relationship and build a fruitful cooperation, not only on fulfilling bilateral interests, but also on co-managing chronic regional troubles, such as the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Since the latest episode of war between Israel and Hamas, in May, Egypt and Qatar have been closely coordinating to reconstruct the Gaza strip and provide humanitarian aid to the Palestinians living there. This level of cooperation between Egypt and Qatar was an impossibility, only a few months ago.

Unlike what most people believe, this is the first time ever Qatar Energy directly invests in the Egyptian ascending economic power of oil and natural gas. In the past, all Qatar investments in Egypt’s energy sector were channeled through the Arab Refining Company (ARC), and limited to one project that started in 2012, under the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood, and was not completed until in 2019. To further explain; ARC is owned by private shareholders, including the Egyptian Citadel (Qala’a) Holdings and some Arab Gulf investors. One of the giant Gulf investors in ARC was the Qatari state-owned company “Qatar Petroleum,” which changed its name later to “Qatar Energy.” It owns 38.1% of the ARC shares. The Arab Refining Company owns 66.6% in the Egyptian Refining Company, which is an Egyptian state-owned company. That is why there were cooperation between Qatar Petroleum and the Egyptian Refining Company, in the past. But, again, it was not a direct investment in the Egyptian energy sector and was limited to only one project, which is not as huge as the current investments Qatar is currently seeking to make in the Egyptian Red Sea.

In addition to Qatar, Egypt’s relationship with Turkey is taking a new positive turn as the two sides started to make a fruitful use of the Mediterranean wealth of natural gas. According to data published by S&P Global Platts Analytics, in the period between October and December, Egypt shipped to Turkey seven cargos of Liquified Natural Gas (LNG), extracted from Idku and Demietta plants, at Egypt’s shores in the Mediterranean. This is the first time Egypt provides Turkey with such high volume of LNG exports, despite its contracts with Greece and Cyprus, within the EastMed Gas Organization. In the past, similar exports from Egypt to Turkey were only limited to mineral oils and plastics.

Qatar investments in the Egyptian energy sector and Turkey’s growing dependence on Egypt for natural gas supply are indicators on the increasing strength of the Egyptian economy. In a recent report, the International Monetary Fund expected that Egypt, in 2022, will be the second largest economy in Africa, after Nigeria, and the second largest economy in Arab countries, after Saudi Arabia, with a record GDP that exceeds US$438 billion.

Keeping healthy and balanced relations with all its neighbors in the Middle East, the Mediterranean, and Africa is the real secret behind Egypt’s economic success, despite the pandemic that brought even the most established economies on its knees. It would be interesting to watch how Egypt can balance its economic relations with the Qatar-Turkey axis, with its existing relationships with other Gulf and Mediterranean actors.

Article first published on The Levant News.

Qatar’s emir approved new laws on July 29th for its first legislative election in October, when Qataris will elect two-thirds of the advisory Shura Council. The new law states that candidates must be “originally from Qatar” that is settled in the gulf-state before 1930—whose grandfather was born in Qatar, and their age must be above 30 years.

The law infuriated members of Al Murrah tribe who constitute 25% of the Qatari population, yet they have constantly faced discrimination by the Qatari royal family.

The tribesmen demanded the Qatari government to give them full citizenship rights and to immediately release seven Qatari citizens detained by the Secret Services.

Fearing the massive back-lash the government imposed lockdown and road-blocks in certain areas.

Qatar played a pivotal role in fueling the Arab-Spring in 2011 through its Al-Jazeera media outlet. The neighboring gulf-states like Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and United Arab Emirates cut-off all the relations with Qatar in 2017 for its involvement in sponsoring terrorism, and hosting Islamist leader Yousuf Al-Qardawi who passed religious verdicts to carry out protests during the Arab Spring—which resulted in humongous loss of human lives and absolute downfall of the economy.

Qatar is also accused of financing propaganda machineries in the region against the fellow gulf-states.

I say this is the unjust Qatari regime

Qatari regime has come under fire for grave human rights violations with torturing of the innocent and displacement of women and children, as Asma Rayan, whose husband Sheikh Talal bin Abdulaziz al-Thani is imprisoned, revealed in an interview to Okaz and Saudi Gazette.

Asma said that Al-Thani family has abandoned Sheikh Talal’s children and deprived them of financial allocations, forcing Germany to take care of them in place of their homeland.

Asma said that she is determined to expose the Qatari regime and its blatant violations of human rights.

“Hamad Bin Khalifa is behind the imprisonment and torture of my husband. Hamad is seeing to it he is not released, especially after Sheikh Talal refused to pledge allegiance to Tamim, the emir of Qatar,” she said.

Following is the excerpt of Asma’s interview:

What were the promises that were made to you by the Qatari regime?

The promises came after the threats that Sheikh Talal will be subjected to more torture and abuse and that my giving up (of the legal fight) would accelerate his release, but I convinced my Qatari lawyer that I would not back down from moving forward with taking up the case to the United Nations, with a document consisting of 300 papers, most of which are signed by the former Emir of Qatar Hamad Bin Khalifa and issued by the Qatari court. This is especially because my children are living in a tragic situation, and they should not be made to bear the repercussions of this case. This shows that the Qatari regime is immoral and does not recognize human rights which it falsely claims to uphold.

What about the verdict issued against Sheikh Talal?

He was unjustly sentenced to 27 years in prison. Justifications were presented for jailing a person who did not commit any grave crime such as murder or injustice but accused him of being insolvent. We provided the judges with proof about payment of the sums owed to the Qatari state. I wondered if the debt was actual, would the sentence entail a long jail term, and does international law approve such a ruling?

Therefore, I say this is the unjust Qatari regime. Even an official at the United Nations assured me that the sentence against a person in debt related matters does not reach this level. I do not know where he is now and in which prison. I am sure that he does not enjoy the least human rights, and I knew that they were threatening him in the event of his release that he would be expelled from Qatar.

What are the causes of all that Sheikh Talal Al-Thani is being made to suffer from your point of view?

Because he is the son of Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Thani, the former emir of Qatar, and because his father and mother are from Al-Thani family, and his mother is related to Hamad Bin Khalifa’s mother. He was the first to demand his rights as well as that of his brothers, and he refused to pledge allegiance to the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani.

He literally told members of the ruling family: “I will not pledge allegiance to the son of Moza.” He will not accept any solutions that confiscate his rights and those of his brothers who look up to him in every matter even though he is not the oldest. The plots began until matters reached unfair judgments, torture, insults, and the deprivation of his rights. Qatar lies and does not enforce rights.

What about the Qatari regime’s promotion, through its media mouthpieces, that it upholds human rights, even after your suffering, your pursuit of the issue and your insistence on moving forward?

The United Nations criticized Qatar regarding the torture of Sheikh Talal Al-Thani, because his physical appearance changed after he was deprived of a decent life inside the prison, and I would like to point out — and this is what I lived — that Qatar, after the Quartet boycott, failed to secure food and consumer goods for its citizens and residents. This was reflected in the standard of what was provided to the prisoners.

I used to plead prison officials to provide insulin for Sheikh Talal, and their responses were that it was not available, which forced me to go to places far from his prison headquarters to secure it. What added to my plight and suffering was that I was prevented from using a driver to deliver him the medication. So I consider the government of Qatar as immoral that does not apply human rights, and this is documented in the United Nations, including its violation of children’s rights.

Did you seek the help of members of the Al-Thani family to secure the release of your husband Sheikh Talal? Are you afraid?

The German authorities asked me not to talk about providing protection, and I am afraid of my life, especially after I lodged the case with the United Nations because the Qatari regime was betting that the case would not be accepted by the United Nations.

Are the children of Sheikh Talal Al-Thani receiving any support or allowances from the Qatari regime?

They stopped family allowances for the Al-Thani family, and the German government is the one that spends on us. Therefore, it was not a surprise for me when the Qatari regime abandoned my children who also belonged to the ruling family as well as their father who has continuously been facing abuse from the regime. Germany is taking care of them and has even allocated guards to protect them from the threats of their own family members who abandoned them.

Ironically three of the four attending heads of states are the reason behind the majority of the Muslim world woes.

What seemed as an Islamic summit called by Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad is actually a Jihadists summit with the participation of terrorist backers—Iran, Turkey and Qatar.

The Summit played the usual populist card of claiming that the summit aims to solve the problems of the Islamic world.

Ironically three of the four attending heads of states are the reason behind the majority of the Muslim world woes.

Also, the presence of figures known to belong to the Muslim Brotherhood, or their support for terrorist groups at the Islamist summit, which implicated Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in the uphill battle to regain support for Hassan Rouhani, Erdogan and Tamim.

Like the “Al Qaeda Summit” in “Kuala Lumpur” in the year 2000, which, according to what was revealed by the American intelligence services, had brought togather the planners and supporters of the Twin Towers bombings, it will become clear to you the similarity of the motives for holding this mini-summit, its board of directors and the actors in this group of extremists.

In 2014, “Mahathir Muhammad” founded “Kuala Lumpur Forum for Thought and Civilization”, he personally presides over it, provided that the forum will be hosted in different countries whose governments are allied with the Muslim Brotherhood.

Offshoots of the forum were held in Turkey, Sudan and Tunisia, in attendance of various Islamist organizations and movements and their leaders, and of course alongside all branches of the Brotherhood and its subscribers.

VPs were appointed, among them the first VP is the Mauritania extremist scholar Mohamed Ould Al-Dadou Al-Shanqeeti who is member of the Board of Trustees of the International Union of Muslim Scholars in Qatar, and also the Mufti of the armed “jihadist” groups.

Second VP is, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister in the government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and the third VP is Ali Othman Taha who is former Sudanese Vice President to Omar al-Bashir, and the forth VP is Abdel Razzaq Maqri the grand “Morshid” of the Muslim Brotherhood in Algeria, who took over as Secretary-General of the forum.

The Iranian attendance and participation, in what he described as the mini-Islamic summit, came as response to the recent events that pushed Iran to a corner as it face tough sanctions, uprisings in Iran, Iraq and Lebanon.

Indonesian and Pakistani withdrawal was based on their desire to distance themselves from the troubled and problematic Summit.

Additionally, they couldn’t risk diving their own countries as Saudi Arabia still hold great support and loyalty among the citizens of Pakistan and Indonesia.

The Islamists are retreating and getting restless that the world supports the efforts of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates in eradicating the Islamist ideology and pushing them to accept the need for change and abandon all the extremist teaching they embrace.

Khaled Homoud Alshareef holds PhD in Business and he earned Masters in Philosophy. He regularly tweets under @0khalodi0.