Qatar waives visa requirement for Moroccans

Qatar waives visa requirement for Moroccans
Citizens of Morocco no longer need visas to enter Qatar, official Moroccan media reported on Tuesday, after Qatari Prime Minister met with a Moroccan delegation in Doha the same day.
2 min read
07 September, 2017
Qatar introduced visa-free entry programme for 80 nationalities to stimulate air transport and tourism [AFP]
Doha has added Morocco to the list of countries whose citizens no longer need visas to Qatar, official Moroccan media reported on Tuesday.

Qatar, hit by a land and air blockade imposed by a group of its most powerful neighbours, in early August introduced a visa-free entry programme for 80 nationalities to stimulate air transport and tourism.

Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser Al-Thani, who met a Moroccan delegation in Doha on Tuesday, announced that his country "had removed the obligation for Moroccan citizens to obtain a visa", Morocco's official MAP news agency said the same day.

Morocco and Lebanon are so far the only two Arab countries to benefit from the policy, although fellow members of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council still in theory have visa-free access to the gas-rich emirate.

Regional kingpin Saudi Arabia as well as the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain cut ties with Qatar in June, accusing it of bankrolling Islamist extremist groups and being too close to Riyadh's arch-rival Tehran. Doha denies the charges.

The four Arab states have imposed an embargo on Qatar, recalling their diplomats and banning the emirate from using their airspace or ports.

Saudi journalist sparks anger on twitter

In response to Tuesday's announcement, Saudi journalist Husain Alfarraj took to twitter to criticise the move, in a tweet deemed insulting to the people of Lebanon and Morocco.

"Now the party can begin…The Lebanese can bring their gamblers and cabarets, and the Moroccans can bring their…?" Alfarraj tweeted. 

The tweet cause a storm of angry responses from many outraged by his comments.

Qatari journalist Abdullah al-Athba responded in a tweet: "Didn't the Saudi king just return from Morocco himself?" adding: "We will be honoured to receive the people of Lebanon and Morocco."

Moroccan journalist Abdulsamad Nasser tweeted: "[Alfarraj] has stooped so low to make such generalised judgements about Lebanon, Morocco and Qatar."

AlFarraj later tweeted an apology for his comments, which he said were "misinterpreted".

Morocco traditionally has close strategic ties with Gulf states. It has remained neutral in the recent crisis, offering to act as a mediator.

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