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By Lawrence Delevingne, Nathan Layne and Karen Freifeld
WASHINGTON / NEW YORK (Reuters) – There was a lot of bonhomie like a few dozen people, including members of Congress and government officials American, gathered last week for dinner Washington District in the honor of the Foreign Minister of Qatar.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin was sitting next to the Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani
"You have been a great friend of the United States" congratulating Qatar for its cooperation in funding efforts counterterrorism.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt broke off ties with Qatar in June 2017, accusing it of fomenting regional unrest, supporting terrorism and getting too close to the United States. Iran, which Doha denies.
At the time, a dinner with Qatari officials in a Washington steakhouse to get support from members of Congress. as a deaf affair, with no one having any influence in the Trump administration during the event, according to a person who attended. President Donald Trump followed the boycott with tweets suggesting that Qatar was financing terrorism, even though other US officials have pointed out that he was an ally
"When the blockade arrived, Have no presence on the hill ". Qatar's counselor who was paid $ 1.45 million, including fees, for his advocacy work.
A year later, the boycott is still in effect because the rivals have failed to resolve their dispute. But Qatar has managed to persuade some US lawmakers and influencers that it is an ally of the United States in the fight against terrorism and victim of an unjust boycott, show talks with advisers on both sides.
Several Qatari lobbyists said the aggressive strategy cost the OPEC member tens of millions of dollars, touched people close to Trump and lobbied on Capitol Hill.
The country has also hired people close to Trump, pledged billions of dollars in US investment The boycott of Qatar has followed long smoldering strains in the region, countries like Saudi Arabia and the United States. WATER is angry because of the lightness of the Gulf nation. role in regional affairs, sponsorship of factions in revolts and civil wars, and negotiation of peace agreements across the Middle East. The United States, closely allied with the countries on both sides, found themselves in the middle and tried unsuccessfully to negotiate. Qatar is home to the Middle East headquarters for the United States Air Force. An administration official said that the United States feared that the dispute would allow Iran to strengthen its position in the Gulf if Tehran supported the Qataris.
Trump wants "the dispute to be relaxed and finally resolved because it only benefits Iran" spokesman said.
Indeed, since the boycott, the ties between Iran and Qatar have improved. Tehran opened its airspace to Qatar Airways when Saudis and others closed theirs, while Qatar re-established full diplomatic relations with Iran.
This boycott violates the "right of an independent country like Qatar to choose its allies".
Yousef Al Otaiba, the UAE's ambassador to the United States, said: "Rather than hoping that Washington could put in place a solution to the crisis, Qatar has been l? Ambassador of the UAE should establish a direct dialogue with the UAE and its neighbors. "
The Saudi Embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment
LOBBYING BATTLE
Rich from large reserves of natural gas, Qatar has provided at least $ 24 million on lobbying in Washington since the beginning of 2017. This compares with a total of $ 8.5 million that Qatar paid in 2015 and 2016 for lobbying, according to the records of the Department of Justice. (For a chart, click on https://tmsnrt.rs/2N8ZwFr)
It hired people close to Trump. For example, the former mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani, said he worked for the Qataris during an investigation and went to Doha a few weeks before becoming the personal attorney. of Trump in April.
Giuliani refused to give details. Trump about his work in Qatar.
The opponents of Qatar have a formidable offensive. The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia spent about $ 25 million each during the same period and had allies like Elliott Broidy, a Republican fundraiser close to Trump.
Last May, Broidy funded a conference on Qatar and the Muslim Brotherhood. An Islamist group that Egypt and other Doha rivals have accused of terrorism, according to Mark Dubowitz, head of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, a think tank that organized the conference.
It is at this conference that Ed Royce, chairman of the powerful foreign affairs committee of the House of Representatives, unveiled bills to designate Qatar as a sponsor of terrorism. Royce introduced the bill two days after the conference
Royce's office did not respond to a request for comment
Qatar "spanned the hill" to oppose the draft law, appealing to President Paul Ryan's office.
Ryan's office referred questions on the bill to Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who did not respond to a request for comment
"Naturally, the Qataris have called all their lobbyists and their favors to try to derail the bill, even if the last chapter on these issues has not yet been written, "said Broidy, who sued Qatar for allegedly hacking his emails. When asked by Reuters about his role on the bill, Broidy said, "I would like the bill to be my idea, but the reality is that it was not the case and I'm not sure. I have never done anything. "
INCREDIBLE ALLIES
Qatar also reached out to unlikely allies In January, Qatar lobbyists took Morton Klein, leader of the Zionist America, first class on Qatar Airways, and have hosted it at the Sheraton Grand Doha Resort, five star, for meetings with the country's leaders. Hour, face-to-face meeting with the lorry. Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani.Mr Klein promised to kill an Al Jazeera documentary criticizing supporters of Israel in the United States, to eliminate anti-Semitic books from a Doha Book Fair and to work for the liberation of kidnapped Israelis
interviewed last week qu & # He is encouraged by certain measures taken to address his concerns. He stated that the documentary had not been broadcast and that he was still working with officials on other issues
Last fall, Trump met Sheikh Tamim on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. A Qatari lobbyist said the Doha message to the US was that they would spend more money on the US base in the country and buy planes at Boeing Co.
In the week, Qatar Airways announced that it would buy six Boeing, valued at $ 2.16 billion. Boeing refused to comment
Sheikh Tamim met Trump again in April at the White House.
"It took time and resources to replace the lies of the blocking states with the truth, including inviting delegations to visit Qatar for themselves," said Jassim al-Thani, a spokesman for Embassy of Qatar in Washington
(Additional reportage of John Walcott and Yara Bayoumy at WASHINGTON, Noah Browning at DUBAI and Parisa Hafezi at ANKARA, edited by Paritosh Bansal) [19659041]
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