Qatar's FM: Only talks can resolve Gulf crisis

Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said the only solution to his country’s crisis with the states that are boycotting it is negotiations and dialogue on the basis of equality between nations rather than threats.

This came during a press conference with his German counterpart Sigmar Gabriel in the Qatari capital, Doha, yesterday.

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Remarking on the content of Qatar’s response to the demands of countries that had imposed blockade on Doha, Al-Thani said the response came within the frame of maintaining respect for the sovereignty of states and for international law.

He described the demands as “unrealistic and can not be applied” saying they “violate the sovereignty of a country and interfere in its internal affairs”.

He stressed that his country “rejects guardianship by any country” and: “We are ready to discuss any grievances from those countries, if any, and to conduct a dialogue not on the basis of threat but on the basis of equality between states.”

Read: Kuwaiti sources reveal Qatar’s response to demands by embargo countries

Earlier in the day, Emirati Foreign Minister, Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed, called on Qatar “to stop supporting terrorism”.

In response to a question about his expectations of the meeting of the foreign ministers of the four countries scheduled for tomorrow in Cairo, Al-Thani said:

The positions of the embargo countries can not be predicted … They violated many principles of international law by imposing an illegal blockade on my country, so the outcome of the meeting can not be expected.

Germany’s Gabriel told reporters: “There are boundaries that you should not cross, that the sovereignty of each country and the respect of this national sovereignty has to be there.”