Siege countries plotted regime change, Qatari FM says

Qatar’s Foreign Minister Mohamed Ben Abdul-Rahman reaffirmed his country’s view that the current Gulf crisis was instigated by regional countries that conspired to carry out regime change his country.

“This is not new,” he said, “the same thing happened in 2014 and 1996.”

Abdul-Rahman added: “This aggression was launched when Qatar began to adopt new changes – carrying out a different strategy and pursuing a different vision.”

Speaking in Paris on Qatar’s view about regional issues in a seminar organised by the International Diplomacy Academy, the Qatari minister said: “The siege countries [Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain and Egypt] do not accept different views or different systems. At the same time, we refuse to concede our sovereignty.”

He added: “We build our diplomacy based on our principles. We think our region needs a consistent security strategy that enables people to coexist peacefully with each other.”

As for his own country, Qatar, Abdul-Rahman said: “The basic principle in our diplomacy is that people are not subject to any political bargaining. When there is an issue between the government and the people, we stand beside the people.”