On Monday 5 June 2017, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut diplomatic ties with Qatar and moved to close off access to the Gulf country, with an embargo on air, sea or land traffic to and from Qatar. As of today, the number of countries joining Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt has expanded to include Senegal, Libya, Yemen, Mauritania, United Nations of Comoros, Maldives and Mauritius. Jordan has also reduced its ties with Qatar and has revoked the license of Doha-based TV channel Al Jazeera.
Please find below two links to client alerts developed by our Gulf offices relating to the boycott:
- Qatar Diplomatic Crisis – How it may impact you (7 June)
- UPDATE: Qatar Diplomatic Crisis – How it may impact you in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt (12 June)
At this stage, the situation remains quite fluid and, as far as we are aware, the boycott has not been supported by decrees and/or legislation defining procedures, limitations, thresholds and options. This lack of any regulatory promulgations has created confusion as to the scope of the prohibitions or restrictions. As such, we recommend taking a conservative approach when formulating plans to deal with the current boycott.
For more information, please contact Mohamed Barakat (Partner, Washington, DC), Dr. Habib Al Mulla (Chairman, UAE), Borys Dackiw (Managing Partner, UAE), Ian Siddell (Partner, Bahrain/Qatar), George Sayen (Partner, Saudi Arabia) or Ziad Gadalla (Senior Associate, Egypt).
