Egypt FM criticises Western support for Qatar

Egyptian Foreign Minister, Sameh Shukri, has criticised the positions of some Western countries which support Qatar.

According to a foreign ministry statement, Shukri made the remarks during a meeting in Paris on Wednesday with Christian Campon, Deputy-Chairman of the French Select Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Armed forces.

“Egypt has moved together with its partners in the three Arab countries to pressure Qatar to correct its positions” Shukri said. The Egyptian minister regretted that “some Western countries” which he did not name “refuse to recognize the negative effects of Qatar’s actions on the region stability”.

This is the first time a senior official from the four countries boycotting Qatar has criticised the positions of Western countries.

Read: US, UK and Kuwait call sides to swiftly end Qatar crisis

Western countries support dialogue as well as the Kuwaiti mediation as the means to resolve the Gulf crisis with Qatar.

Previously, Western officials had criticised the punitive measures imposed by Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain on Qatar after severing ties Doha on 5 June for allegedly “supporting terrorism”.