“My father is on his plane to Kuwait with his two daughters,” said his son Ali bin Abdullah Al-Thani. Sheikh Abdullah, seen by some as a potential challenger to the Qatari leadership, had posted a video online on Sunday saying he was detained in the UAE and “afraid something could happen to me that will be blamed on Qatar”. The UAE denied Sheikh Abdullah was being held against his will, with state news agency WAM reporting he was in the country “at his own behest”. The spat over Sheikh Abdullah was the latest row in the ongoing political crisis between rival Gulf states. Kuwait is one of the Gulf states to remain outside the conflict and has acted as a mediator during the eight-month long dispute.

Source: The Guardian January 16, 2018 19:30 UTC