TWO MONTHS ON AND STILL DOHA REFUSES TO COME INTO LINE
▶ Qatar’s refusal to address quartet’s concerns about terrorism means boycott must continue
Two months ago yesterday, four Arab nations imposed boycotts over Qatar’s support for extremism and for undermining regional interests and security, but Doha is still refusing to return to the GCC fold.
It has sought to protest against the June 5 move by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt to cut travel and economic ties, while refusing to meet their conditions for restoring normal relations.
Rather than meet the 13 demands and agree to the six principles spelt out by the four countries, Doha has run to international umpires for support, and has received very little.
It asked the UN’s aviation authority, the International Civil Aviation Authority, to meet last Monday for dispute resolution under the air travel treaty to which Doha, Bahrain and the UAE are all signatories.
Doha claimed the countries were in breach of the accord because they blocked Qatari flights from their airspace.
The authority would not declare the boycott to be in breach, but the four countries agreed to provide emergency corridors through their airspace, even though Saudi Arabia is not party to the treaty.
“Nine corridors have been identified, including one in international air space over the Mediterranean sea that will be monitored by the Egyptian authorities,” the Saudi state news agency reported.
Qatar also challenged the boycott at the World Trade Organisation, starting a legal process that will probably drag on for years.
The crisis is now playing out in the UN security council, of which Egypt holds the chair this month. After a message of protest from Doha to the council, Cairo accused Qatar of supporting terrorist groups financially and ideologically in Syria, Iraq and Libya.
At a council meeting on Thursday, Egypt’s deputy ambassador also said Qatar’s “pro-terrorist” policies broke security council resolutions and that it was “shameful” the council had not punished Doha.
“It’s crucial for the security council to make these countries that don’t respect these resolutions accountable,” Ihab Awad Moustafa said. “For example, the adoption by the Qatar regime of a pro-terrorist policy.”
Qatar, Mr Moustafa said, “believes that the economic interests
and the different political orientations will protect them from any accountability vis-avis the security council because it has violated the resolutions of the council”.
Doha has stubbornly made it known that there is no clear path for a quick resolution to the crisis. Attempts at mediation by Kuwait, the United States, Britain and France have made no headway.
Quartet officials said after a meeting on the crisis in Manama last week that the only negotiations they are open to are over the implementation of their demands, not the content of them.
Qatar has refused the terms and refuses to fall into line with the Saudi-led strategy for stabilising the region, which includes sidelining political Islamist groups seeking to threaten the regional security.
Qatar is the only Arab state patronising the Muslim Brotherhood and its offshoots beyond its borders after the group failed to consolidate gains made in the initial aftermath of the Arab Spring.
Despite the damage to its economy, Qatar is trying to weather the boycott by relying on Turkey and Iran for the supply of basic commodities, the bulk of which used to arrive by land from Saudi Arabia and by ship from the UAE.
Its role as the world’s largest supplier of natural gas has not been affected, and the quartet has said they would not force American and other international businesses to choose sides.
UAE officials have said in recent weeks that the crisis will probably result in an extended divorce from Qatar, with new regional relationships being forged as the cold war becomes permanent.
Egypt’s deputy ambassador said Qatar’s ‘pro-terrorist’ policies broke UN security council resolutions