LONDON: Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister yesterday said the four Arab states that broke ties with Doha were drawing up a list of “grievances,” and would present them soon.
He warned that Qatar could not fund extremism and remain on good terms with neighbouring states.
Adel Al Jubeir, who held talks with British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson earlier, said that Qatar should respond to calls to halt its support for “extremism and terrorism” which were being made by the whole world and not just Gulf states.
Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt severed diplomatic relations with Qatar last week, accusing it of supporting Islamist militants and Iran.
The crisis prompted US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to announce yesterday that he was cancelling his planned trip to attend an Organisation of American States meeting in Mexico to instead remain in Washington to work on reducing diplomatic strains.
Tillerson “will continue his efforts to de-escalate tensions in the Middle East region through in-person meetings and phone conversations with Gulf and regional leaders,” the US State Department said in a statement.
Al Jubeir said the list being compiled was not “demands,” but “a list of grievances that need to be addressed and that the Qataris need to fix.”
“We are working on those with our Bahraini, Emirati and Egyptian partners in order to compile this list and present it to the Qataris, and I think it will be done fairly soon.”
Calling Doha an “ally” in the GCC, Al Jubeir said there was no intention of harming the Qatari people.
“Enough is enough, and our Qatari brothers cannot continue to fund extremism and terrorise and incite and use hostile media and interfere with the affairs of other countries and still remain in good standing,” he said, adding he expected a positive response that would move the region to a “better place.”
But his comments echoed those of the UAE’s ambassador to the US, who said on Tuesday the list would broadly address three areas of support for terrorism, meddling in the internal affairs of the four Arab states and attacks through Qatari-owned media platforms.
Separately, UAE’s Minister of State Dr Sultan bin Ahmad Sultan Al Jaber said during a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow that the decision against Qatar was aimed at stopping its funding of terrorism, UAE news agency WAM reported.
“For 22 years, Qatar has adopted policies that undermined regional and global security, through the direct or indirect finance of terrorism or by supporting media outlets that enable terrorist groups to promote their twisted, violent and extremist ideologies,” Dr Al Jaber said.
He further said that the measures came after exhausting all other attempts to change the course of Qatar’s double standard policy of simultaneously combating and supporting terrorism.
“The decision to sever ties with Qatar was a clear message to its regime, that it is time for Doha to change the course and approach it has followed for many years, to undermine regional security and stability by providing support for extremism and terrorism,” Dr Al Jaber stated.
Ambassadors of Bahrain, the UAE, Egypt and Deputy Ambassador of Saudi Arabia separately met Russian special presidential representative for the Middle East and Africa and Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov at the Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow and provided a detailed report on Qatar’s support and funding for terrorist organisations and militias throughout the region.
Meanwhile, the permanent missions of Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain to the UN in Geneva issued a statement regretting a statement by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on the crisis, in which he expressed his fear that the decisions taken will affect human rights.
These decisions are a sovereign right of the states concerned and aim to protect their national security from the dangers of terrorism and extremism, they said.
The statement by the missions also said that it was decided to take measures aimed at addressing humanitarian and health cases, establish hot lines in each country so that cases could be reported and appropriate action taken, in a manner consistent with international obligations.
Meanwhile, the National Institution of Human Rights has denied that it received any complaints from any Bahraini or resident family due to the decision to cut diplomatic ties with Qatar.
In a statement, it said that in case it receives such complaints it would deal with them in compliance with international law and norms and its prerogatives.
The watchdog dismissed what is being said about alleged repercussions of cutting ties as being incorrect, pledging to follow up the issue.
It stressed the necessity of dealing with the situation responsibly, beyond any unrealistic exaggeration which reflects certain political orientations which do not serve the cause of human rights.