Cairo - Twitter erupted with opinions last night following Qatar Emir's first public address since a diplomatic crisis with neighboring Gulf and Arab countries unfolded last month. While, many in Qatar responded enthusiastically to the Emir's call to use the crisis as a wakeup call to step up and diversify the economy, the speech was less or not well-received by people of Saudi Arabia and other boycotting nations. First Saudi response to Qatar emir speech from royal court adviser, calls it "empty rhetoric prepared by Azmi Bishara" Ali Shihab, Executive Director, The Arabia Foundation, tweeted: "Qatar's Emir gives a speech that does not bode well. No willingness to abide by what he signed in 2013/2014." Faisal J. Abbas, Editor-in-Chief of Arab News, the Middle East's leading international English language daily, also tweeted: "Sheikh Tamim shouldn't have spoken unless he had something to say! There was nothing worthwhile in his speech..." Another twitter user wrote: "Preparing the speech for 40 days and that's the result ????. #Fail! #Qatar #TamimSpeech ..." The polarized reactions show that even though the quartet has downscaled their demands and Qatar said it is willing to talk, much damage has already been done.
