German FM: Qatar’s sovereignty must be respected

Sigmar Gabriel says Doha showed restraint in responding to Gulf blockade, urges neighbours to respond in similar spirit. Sigmar Gabriel, Germany’s foreign minister, has said that Qatar’s sovereignty must be respected, praising the Gulf country’s “restraint” in responding to a blockade imposed by Arab states amid the worst region- al diplomatic crisis in years. He made the comments on Tuesday in Doha during a joint news conference with his Qatari counterpart, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, who, for his part, insisted that Qatar is looking to solve the dispute through dialogue, but without compromising on its independence. “There are boundaries that you should not cross, that the sovereignty of each of country and the respect of this national sovereignty has to be there,” Gabriel told reporters during the last stop of a tour of the Gulf region, in the latest diplomatic effort to end the standoff. “It has to be a basic condition and when that is there, even the most difficult questions can be talked about,” he added. Gabriel visited Saudi Arabia on Monday, before holding meetings in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar on Tuesday Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt cut diplomatic and trade ties with Qatar on June 5, accusing it of supporting “terrorism” - an allegation Doha denies. The four countries have also imposed a land, air and sea embargo. After more than two weeks, the four countries gave Doha 10 days, or until Sunday night, to comply with a 13-point demand list in exchange for the end of the anti-Qatar measures. Qatar on Monday delivered its response to Kuwait, which acts as a mediator, and the Saudi-led group of countries is now expected to meet in the Egyptian capital of Cairo on Wednesday to discuss their next move. Gabriel told reporters in Doha that whilst Germany was not going to take any sides in this dispute, it was commending Qatar’s attitude towards the crisis, citing Doha’s repeated calls for dialogue in order to bring about a resolution. “Qatar has shown restraint in reacting to the blockade,” Gabriel told reporters in Doha. “We hope others will respond in a similar spirit.”