A new secret document has revealed how Qatar staged the abduction of a Qatari hunting party in Iraq to pressurize Saudi Arabia into freeing the Shiite cleric, Nimr Al-Nimr, before his execution. The hunting party included prominent members of the Qatari ruling family and two Saudi nationals, besides others who were part of the plot. The document, obtained by Al-Riyadh Arabic newspaper, revealed that the plan was hatched by Qatar, Iran, and the Iraqi Popular Mobilization militias. The abduction was not for ransom, but to seek Nimr's release in exchange for the Saudis in the hunting group. According to the document, Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran, was himself overseeing the plot. Nimr, a Saudi citizen, was found guilty of conspiring against his country, seeking foreign meddling in the Kingdom, disobeying its rulers, and taking up arms against the state. Iran's relationship with Qatar is stronger than its relationship with the Popular Mobilization militias, the document revealed.
