Originally Posted by
Moomba
It seems they have deliberately stopped people adding in mileage run type sectors to and from ME from LHR when starting and ending in Africa.
Not sure I agree with you

I'm busy dissecting the new rule and intend to post my thoughts shortly
But for now I would say that an itinerary such as
CPT-DOH-LHR-DOH-JFK...MEL-xDOH-CPT appears to be valid (cannot test it online because cannot start with a QR flight)