 In March of the same year he was arrested in Qatar.A diplomatic cable sent in May by the then charges d'affairs Michael Ratney revealed that the Qatari Prime Minister at the time, Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al-Thani, was heavily involved in the handling of al-Subaiy's case from "very early on".The cable goes on to suggest that the case itself was a point of contention between al-Thani and Qatari intelligence agencies, stating it "had been a major bilateral irritant for over a year".