DOHA: A controversial member of Qatar's royal family says he is being detained in the UAE, media reported yesterday, eight months into a crisis between Gulf states. Sheikh Abdullah bin Ali Al-Thani, a little-known royal, emerged as an unlikely mediator in August, weeks after Riyadh and Abu Dhabi cut ties with Doha.

A video circulating online, also broadcast by Qatar-based Al-Jazeera television, shows the sheikh seated in an armchair warning that he was "afraid something could happen to me that will be blamed on Qatar". "I am now in Abu Dhabi, where I was a guest of (UAE crown prince) Sheikh Mohammed" bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, he said. "That is no longer the case. I am now detained," Sheikh Abdullah said. "I want to make clear that the people of Qatar are innocent," the sheikh said. "Sheikh Mohammed bears full responsibility for anything that happens to me."