JEDDAH: Qatar Airways’ chief executive officer slammed the US response to the Gulf crisis and accused it of “adding fuel to the fire.”
In an interview with CNNMoney, Akbar Al-Baker said the blockade imposed on his country by its Gulf neighbors is “illegal” and requires US intervention to resolve the situation.
The International Civil Aviation Organization “should heavily get involved, put their weight behind this to declare this an illegal act,” Al-Baker said.
US President Donald Trump has endorsed Saudi Arabia’s decision, along with the UAE and Bahrain, to sever ties with Qatar against the backdrop of accusations of supporting terrorism.
“I don’t want to comment about President Trump,” Al-Baker said in Doha. “I am extremely disappointed.”
“(The US) should be the leader trying to break this blockade and not sitting and watching what’s going on and actually putting fuel on (the) fire.”
He did not expect such treatment by a country “so dependent on its fight against terrorism,” especially since Qatar is host to the largest US military base in the Middle East with 10,000 American military personnel.
In a previous interview, Al-Baker described Trump as a “clever” businessman whom he would not mind doing business with.
“I’m a businessman and I will even do business with (the) devil as long (as) it’s win-win for both,” Al-Baker said.
Although Qatar Airways is among the biggest airlines in the world, it has a record of mistreating its staff and having discriminatory policies involving cabin crews.
The airline reportedly has a clause in its employment contract that allows it to sack female cabin crewmembers for being pregnant.
The International Labor Organization (ILO) has published a report urging the airline to scrap the policy. Al-Baker said he does not “give a damn about the ILO — I’m there to run a successful airline.”
For violating the ILO Convention 111 against workplace discrimination signed by Qatar in 1976, the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) found Qatar Airways guilty.
Both unions accused Qatar Airways of imposing gender-based discrimination and restricting women’s rights.
Qatar Airways CEO: US adding ‘fuel to the fire’ in Gulf rift
Qatar Airways CEO: US adding ‘fuel to the fire’ in Gulf rift
Iraq executes a former senior officer under Saddam for the 1980 killing of a Shiite cleric
- Al-Sadr was a leading critic of Saddam’s secular Baathist government whose dissent intensified after the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran
- The cleric’s execution in 1980 became a symbol of oppression under Saddam
BAGHDAD: Iraq announced on Monday that a high-level security officer during the rule of Saddam Hussein has been hanged for his involvement in the 1980 killing of a prominent Shiite cleric.
The National Security Service said that Saadoun Sabri Al-Qaisi, who held the rank of major general under Saddam and was arrested last year, was convicted of “grave crimes against humanity,” including the killing of prominent Iraqi Shiite cleric Mohammed Baqir Al-Sadr, members of the Al-Hakim family, and other civilians.
The agency did not say when Al-Qaisi was executed.
Al-Sadr was a leading critic of Iraq’s secular Baathist government and Saddam, his opposition intensifying following the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, which heightened Saddam’s fears of a Shiite-led uprising in Iraq.
In 1980, as the government moved against Shiite activists, Al-Sadr and his sister Bint Al-Huda — a religious scholar and activist who spoke out against government oppression — were arrested. Reports indicate they were tortured before being executed by hanging on April 8, 1980.
The execution sparked widespread outrage at the time and remains a symbol of repression under Saddam’s rule. Saddam was from Iraq’s Sunni minority.
Since the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, authorities have pursued former officials accused of crimes against humanity and abuses against political and religious opponents. Iraq has faced criticism from human rights groups over its application of the death penalty.
