Qatar accuses the boycotting countries of putting the Gulf Cooperation Council at risk

On Thursday, Mohamed Ben Abdul Rahman Al-Thani, the Qatari Foreign Minister, accused the countries that are boycotting his country of putting the Gulf Cooperation Council at risk by “violating the basic principles of the council, and directly resorting to attacking a nation member instead of opting for conflict resolution measures”.

This statement was made during a conference in the European parliament headquarters in Brussels, as an answer to a question about the repercussions of the Gulf crisis on the Gulf Cooperation Council.

The Qatari minister said “the Gulf Cooperation Council is an important entity, and its most important pillar is the security of the Gulf. Doha has been adhering to the principles of the Council. However, these countries (boycotting countries), have taken their final steps individually, and do not represent the Gulf Cooperation Council.”

The Gulf and the Arab region have been suffering a crisis that started on 5 June, when Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt have severed ties with Qatar after accusing it of supporting terrorism. Doha denies these accusations, saying that it has been facing a campaign of “fabricated lies” that aim at imposing “guardianship” on its national decision.

The Gulf Cooperation Council was established in 1981, and its headquarters are located in the Saudi capital, Riyadh. It consists of six countries: Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait and the Sultanate of Oman.

Ben Abdul Rahman Al-Thani added: “these countries have put the Gulf Cooperation Council at risk by violating its basic principles, and directly resorting to attacking a nation member, instead of opting for conflict resolution measures, and that is the strategy used in the world to deal with any conflict or misunderstanding”.

He added: “we completely trust the Gulf Council as an organization, but we do not know whether this trust will continue in the future. There are series of principles that need to be highlighted. The council has to be a cooperative environment instead of being one in which countries dictate over others”.

The four Arab countries have imposed measures on Qatar that they consider as a “boycott”, whereas Qatar views them as a “siege” that violates international law.

Regarding the accusations against Doha, Abdul Rahman Al-Thani said: “as for the accusations of these four countries that Qatar has interfered in their affairs, they have not been proven. Qatar refuses to interfere in other nations’ internal affairs, and does not accept that other countries do the same”.

He went on to say that “these four countries are the ones that are interfering in Qatar’s internal affairs by calling for a regime change and by supporting violent movements”.

Al-Thani considered that “the problem of those countries with Qatar is that they do not want anyone to have a different opinion. Consequently, they accuse whoever has a different view, as well as their opponents, of supporting terrorism, and therefore they see Qatar as a country that supports terrorism.”

The Qatari Foreign Minister added that western countries did not listen to the accusations directed against us, as “Qatar is actively fighting terrorism”.

As for the lists of terrorism prepared by the boycotting countries for Doha, Abdul Rahman Al-Thani stressed that Qatar does not recognize any terrorism lists prepared by countries, and that the only lists they recognize are those issued by the United Nations organization. He also added that “we are not concerned with any accusations based on personal assessments of certain countries in order to please external parties (that he did not specify)”.

It was not possible to get any immediate response from the four boycotting countries regarding the statements made by the Qatari Foreign Minister.

Read More: Trump urges Saudi to end Qatar dispute

Yesterday and during a phone call with the Saudi King, Salman Bin Abdul Aziz, US President Donald Trump called for all parties involved in the crisis to “find a diplomatic solution that adheres to the promises made during the Riyadh summit to preserve the unity in the fight against terrorism”, according to a statement published by the White House today.

On 21 May, Riyadh hosted an Arab Muslim-American summit, with the participation of Trump. Its final statement stressed the solid partnership between the leaders of Arab and Islamic nations and the United States of America to face extremism and terrorism.