Qatar FM warns Saudi Arabia against military escalation

Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammad Bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani said any military escalation by Saudi Arabia would have “extremely severe consequences” on the region.

“No crisis is resolved through confrontation, but by sitting at the negotiations table where dialogue is based on clear principles,” Al Thani said in an interview.

But if you talk about the premise of armed conflict, the Saudis should know that a new military escalation will have very severe consequences on the region.

He stressed that his “country will not comply with any demands that violate international law, and will not comply with any action limited to the State of Qatar alone.”

“Any solution must include everyone, not Qatar alone.”

The Qatari minister also rejected all accusations that Doha supports terrorists and jihadists in Syria and Libya.

Read: Saudi Arabia allows Qatar’s diplomats to return

“Qatar is doing all it can to combat terrorism in all its forms, but Saudi Arabia and the UAE should not give us lessons because they have citizens accused of being involved in terrorism and financing it,” he said.

The Qatari foreign minister’s remarks come as US Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, headed to the Gulf region for talks with the leaders of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar aimed at breaking the deadlock in the Gulf crisis.

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On 5 June, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt severed diplomatic ties with Qatar on the pretext that it supports terrorism which Doha denied.