It is mentioned that unidentified armed elements riding a number of vehicles, kidnapped a number of Qatari wild hunters, late last year, in the desert of Muthnna province in Iraq , the Qatatris were on a hunting trip, and in a matter of days , the Qatari government has learnt that the body responsible for their abduction are Iraqi Hezbollah battalions, and they are being held in different parts of the province of Nasiriyah in southern Iraq.
those battalions are considered of the most powerful militias in Iraq so that no Iraqi force can , whether was security or military, to stop its vehicles at security and military checkpoints . Qatar seeks release of citizens abducted in Iraq
In order to release the Qatari hunters ,the Qatari government has been active by using diplomatic mediation and across multiple bodies and the first was by the Iraqi file official in Hezbollah – Iraq Sheikh Alcauthrana, and the second was by some Iraqi traders who are close to the Qatari ambassador and not resident in Iraq, and the third was by some respected political figures in Iraqi society, where those figures were able to hold talks with Iraqi Hezbollah Brigades lasted for several weeks, but the talks and mediation failed to reach a settlement for the Qatari hostages crisis in Iraq .
However the absence of Iraqi sovereignty in general and internal sovereignty, in particular, as Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and security organs know who was responsible for the kidnapping of Qataris but he does not have the papers of physical power what it takes to find a solution for kidnapped crisis. This inability to resolve this crisis constantly confirms that Haider al-Abadi is just a figurehead of the popular crowd and not the actual head to them, and that the real key to this crowd are the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. Assuming that the Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi is the actual president of the crowd, why his orders do not apply to the Hezbollah Brigades of Iraq, one of the factions of the popular crowd and to order it for the release of the abductees? As for this incident has the negative repercussions on Iraq before the International Community, but these battalions and their allies in the Iranian regime did not care for it, and in a meeting between some of the National Alliance figures ,and security, military and political figures in the regime, including Qassem Soleimani, they tried to explain to those characters the negative effects of the kidnapping but they did not show any interest mentioned by them.
There is no doubt that the kidnapping of Qatari hunters process come completely stuck with the polarization taking place in the regional environment, especially after the outbreak of the Syrian people’s uprising against the regime of Bashar Assad and Qatar was standing along with Saudi Arabia and Turkey to demand the departure of the Syrian president from government whether through diplomatic settlement or leave by military force, and support of the State of Qatar to the Yemeni legitimacy of Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi and the participation of the State of Qatar and the Arab alliance in a Decisive storm operation against Shi’ite Iran’s allies in Yemen , and the pursuit of the State of Qatar with the new leadership in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia under King Salman bin Abdulaziz, in the exercise of Arab role in Iraq to curb Iranian influence, after the Arab states discovered the strategic error which occurred and of that there is no Arabic agenda in dealing with Iraq after the stage of former President Saddam Hussein, in other words, the absence of an Arab vision for the next day to the US occupation of Iraq, which got it fully under the Iranian influence with the exception of Iraq’s Kurdistan region.
It is worth noting in front of these political data that the kidnapping is not to get money but to blackmail the political positions of the State of Qatar, this kidnapping is of a political dimension to limit the rush of Qatari policy in the Arab surroundings and started going against the Iranian and Russian policy orientation and their allies of the states as a Syrian regime and non-State actors like Hezbollah Lebanese . Despite the keenness of the State of Qatar for the safety of its abducted citizens by the Iraqi Hezbollah Brigades, but its foreign policy is still in contrast to the axes of the “Russia and the Iranian regime and the Syrian regime,” and the evidence for this is by the confirmation of Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammad Bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani, stated : The “send ground troops to Syria within the framework of the international coalition to fight ISIS- al” Daash “, it has become a” necessity. ” He also said, the minister , during a panel discussion at the Munich Security Conference, which was held in Germany that “the issue of readiness to launch an operation in Syria,” is not a new plan, “adding that” in fact, this was planned with the United States, which leads the international coalition, ” and that “if the need arises to send ground units to Syria, it should happen under the leadership of the coalition.” this statement comes in conjunction with the announcement of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates of their intention to intervene by land to counter ISIS , “Daash” in Syria, as it was planned to reach at the end of the month of February a group of the Saudi Arabia Air Force fighter jets to Turkish base “Angerlink” in preparation for military land intervention in Syria .
What complicates the release of Qatari abductees in Iraq that the Iraqi Hezbollah Brigades do not have structural or organizational hierarchy , this is at the level of battalions, but on the level of Iraq, there is no political or religious power in it, that can influence the decision of the Iraqi Hezbollah Brigades to release abductees. Proof of this is that the religious marja with great importance of Sayyed Ali al-Sistani who had requested the release of the abductees , but his request was refused by the Iraqi Hezbollah Brigades, and this refusal may be strange for those who are not acquainted to the thinking of the Jaafari doctrine , the twelvers but for those who are familiar with it , will find that refusal comes within the normal context of that thought .
The only person in accordance with the thought Jaafari , the twelvers who has the ability to influence the decision of the Iraqi Hezbollah Brigades, is not found in Iraq, but in the system of a neighboring state, and that is the Iranian regime, specifically the character of the Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei . According to this doctrine , the Iraqi Hezbollah Brigades are of its imitators, and if it is issued, it shall implement without any procrastination. Accordingly, the Qatari state that works for the release of its nationals in Iraq should not depend on any mediation or talks that do not produce tangible results, and they should also realize that the solution and key to the Qatari hostages crisis is in the Iranian capital Tehran, specifically the Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei Office, so with his influential on the Iraqi Hezbollah battalions , the crisis can be resolved, noting that he is the more accurate title to address the crisis and without him is to be considered as a waste of time and effort . and what confirms this , the release of the abductees yesterday who are nationals of the United States of America, which was still described by a literature of the Iranian revolution and velavat- Faqih as state of the “Great Satan”, who were kidnapped in the month of January by the Iraqi Shiite militias affiliated to the Iranian regime, it has been ordered from Tehran to its militia in Iraq to release them so that these kidnapping do not affect negatively on the US-Iranian relations after the lifting of international sanctions on the Iranian regime. In this context, we wonder: If the abducted nationals of the “Great Satan” were released, why they do not release Qatari hunters who are combined with Iranian regime with religion and geographic neighboring .
Rawabet Center for Research and Strategic Studies