Saudi Lobby Funding New Anti-Qatar Ads in US

Ads Airing in DC Accuse Qatar of Supporting Terrorism

Jason Ditz 

Posted onJuly 25, 2017CategoriesNewsTagsQatar, Saudi Arabia, Saudi Lobby

The Saudi lobbying group the Saudi American Public Relations Affairs Committee (SAPRAC) is spending $138,000 on a series of seven 30-second television advertisements with anti-Qatar narratives, accusing Qatar of supporting terrorism or destabilizing the region.

A Saudi lobby logo combining Qatar, a soccer ball, and bomb, aimed at keeping Qatar from hosting the 2022 World Cup

The first of the advertisements aired Sunday during Meet the Press. All of the ads will air on Washington DC’s NBC affiliate, apparently with an eye toward getting seen by US policy makers and shifting their perspective on the Saudi blockade.

SAPRAC has launched a series of anti-Qatar initiatives since the blockade, trying to generally portray Qatar in a negative light, and usually making such claims of “terrorism” without offering any specifics on what they’re actually alleging.

That’s less than what the United Arab Emirates is doing, however, as one of their media outlets, Sky News Arabia, is planning to release a new documentary accusing Qatar of being behind 9/11. Qatar is reportedly planning a counter-PR campaign defending itself in the US.

http://news.antiwar.com/2017/07/25/saudi-lobby-funding-new-anti-qatar-ads-in-us/