Dubai: The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt yesterday expressed regret over Qatar’s negative response to the principles, which reflects Doha’s incomprehension of the gravity of the situation.
“We cannot accept Qatar’s destructive role,” the four ministers said.
Sameh Shukri, Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs, said the situation is no longer about accusing Qatar of supporting terrorism as there is solid evidence and witness accounts on Doha’s complicity.
“The response the four states got was overall negative and lacked any substance. We find it did not provide a basis for Qatar to retreat from its policies,” Shukri said reading a statement by the ministers after a meeting in Cairo.
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The ministers said that Qatar should resort to reason, make the right decisions and commit to six main principles. Qatar must commit to international conventions, UN charters and Arab League agreements. Qatar must commit to fighting all forms of extremism and terrorism, and seize its discourse of hate and violence.
Qatar is required to abide by the 2014 Riyadh Summit Accord as well as by the Arab-Islamic-American Summit held in Riyadh in May that called for rooting out terrorism and drying its sources of financing.
It has to commit to not interfering in other country’s affairs, and supporting parties and groups that breach international laws, the ministers said.
The ministers pointed out that the move by the four countries was to protect the national Arab security and world peace. “The action was taken due to Qatar’s destructive role and its failure to commit to accords that were previously agreed upon.”
“We will no longer be tolerant of Qatar’s destructive role in the region,” they added.
The nations thanked Kuwait Emir Shaikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah for his endeavours to resolve the crisis. They said that the next meeting of the four countries will be held in Manama.
Later, addressing a press conference, Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, said: “We haven’t seen any genuine signs from Qatar that it is interested in its brothers and its surroundings the way it is interested in instigation and destruction. The question is why Qatar wants this chaos...”
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubeir said further steps against Qatar will be taken at an appropriate time and will be in line with international law.
“The political and economic boycott will continue until Qatar changes its policies for the better,” Al Jubeir added.
Earlier yesterday, the Saudi foreign ministry said they had received Qatar’s response to their demands — which include Doha ending support for the Muslim Brotherhood and closing broadcaster Al Jazeera.
Meanwhile, Dr Anwar Mohammad Gargash, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, said on Twitter that the crisis will drag on. The Cairo conference is yet another important step in the face of Doha’s backing for sabotage and incitement and support for extremism and terrorism. “Doha’s reputation has been harmed due to its vicious plots and we have been affected too,” he said.
