RIFT BETWEEN QATAR AND GULF STATES DEEPENS|阿拉伯國家外交戰激化 8國與卡達斷交

The rift between Qatar and other Arab states deepens. The small island nation of Maldives have joined Saudi Arabia, Egypt and 4 others in breaking off diplomatic relations with the gas rich country. In addition, the Gulf's three major airlines have all stopped operating flights across the Qatar border, disrupting air traffic across the region. The three major airlines of the Persian Gulf, including Qatar Airways, Emirates, and Etihad, suspended flights to and from the opposing sides of the current diplomatic conflict between Qatar and other Arab states starting on June 6th. This has been one of the most immediate and obvious consequences of the rift. Sea and land transport links have also been cut. Qataris worried about disruptions to food imports, much of which arrive across its only land border with Saudi Arabia, swarmed supermarkets and emptied food shelves. The Doha stock market fell 8%. International reactions to the crisis have been mixed. Saudi Arabia is an important US ally in its anti-terrorism efforts and recently received a visit by US President Donald Trump. However, Qatar hosts the US's most important military base in the Middle East. The US called on the parties to set aside their differences and focus on anti-terrorism efforts. Russia and Turkey made similar calls. ==MEVLÜT ÇAVUŞOĞLU Minister of Foreign Affairs, Turkey== Of course, different countries will have different opinions on various issues. But dialogue must continue no matter what to resolve current problems peacefully. As Saudi Arabia's chief regional rival and the target of Qatari overtures, Iran emphasized that Qatar's sovereignty should be respected. Israel sees the infighting among Arab states as an opportunity. ==UZI RABI Prof. Mi. East Studies,Tel Aviv University== Qatar is having relationships with both Iran and Hamas. And behind the back, it gives some money to ISIS and Qaeda. Qatar is actually being blamed of supporting terrorists over the region. However, some Western experts say that the news story of the Qatari Emir praising Iran has been proven to be the work of hackers, and Saudi Arabia was only using it as an excuse. ==ALISON WOOD risk analyst== Because these are things that, issues that, the GCCs--not all the GCC states, but particularly Saudi Arabia and the UAE--have wanted to take up and pursue with Qatar for some time, and I think that, regardless if it was a hack or not, they saw this as sort of a way to pressure Qatar into addressing these issues. The diplomatic situation in the Middle East has always had a major impact on oil prices, but the effect of OPEC's production cuts have greatly diminished. The news of the crisis caused a slight rise in international oil prices, then quickly fell back below US$50 a barrel. TRANSLATED BY：JOHN CHEN 中東幾個阿拉伯國家之間的外交戰越演越烈，連位在印度洋上的小國馬爾地夫，也加入與卡達斷交的行列，使斷交的國家增加為7國。另外，分屬兩邊陣營的三大航空公司，斷航措施也即刻生效，也造成當地空中交通樞紐的混亂。 包括卡達航空，以及阿聯的阿酋航空、阿布達比的阿提哈德航空，這中東三大航空公司，從6號開始停止飛航對方國家的航線，是這波外交戰最立即而明顯的衝擊之一。 不只是航空交通，海陸兩方面的往來也被切斷。沙烏地是卡達唯一陸地上的鄰國，民眾擔憂靠陸路運輸進口的糧食出現短缺，紛紛到大賣場搶購，不少貨架已經是空空如也，同時，卡達股市也暴跌百分之8。 制於國際間對這波外交戰的反應就相當微妙。沙烏地等國是美國在中東反恐的重要盟邦，美國總統川普不久前也才訪問過，但卡達有美軍在中東最重要的基地，因此美國呼籲有關各方擱置歧見、專注於反恐。俄羅斯、土耳其也持類似的看法。 ==土耳其外交部長 卡夫索格魯== 各國之間對各種議題當然會有歧見，但無論如何，對話一定要持續，以求和平解決現存的問題。 而卡達試圖改善關係、也是沙烏地死對頭的伊朗，則強調各國應該尊重卡達的主權。至於以色列則是對波灣國家的內鬨樂觀其成。 ==台拉維夫大學教授 烏茲拉比== 卡達和伊朗、哈瑪斯有來往，還在背後資助伊斯蘭國與蓋達。卡達是支持中東恐怖份子的幕後黑手。 但有西方國家的中東專家認為，卡達領袖疑似公開讚許伊朗，已經被證實是駭客搞鬼。因此沙烏地等國只是借題發揮。 ==政經局勢風險分析師 艾莉森伍德== 因為部份、不是全部的波斯灣國家，特別是沙烏地和阿聯，要在各種議題上追剿卡達一段時間，他們才不管是不是駭客搞假新聞，而是要趁此機會逼迫卡達就範。 中東是全球重要的時由與天然氣來源，當地局勢對油價的影響動見觀瞻。不過OPEC減產效果已經大不如前，因此國際油價在斷交的消息傳出後，也只是小漲，隨後又跌回每桶50美元以下。 記者 徐家仁 報導