GRIEVANCE LIST FOR DOHA SOON

GCC states will soon publicise list of grievances against Qatar, while Bahrain and UAE hold talks with UK and Russia

Jubeir says in London that Qatar needs to address concerns its neighbours have over its actions,

LONDON // Qatar should respond to calls from the international community and GCC states to stop supporting extremism and terrorism, Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister said yesterday.

Adel Al Jubeir said a list of grievances regarding Qatar’s actions was being drafted and would be made public soon.

“I would not call them demands. I would say it is a list of grievances that need to be addressed and that the Qataris need to fix,” he said. “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.”

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt severed diplomatic and transport links with Qatar on June 5 over its support for extremist militants and Iran, charges that Doha denies.

Yesterday, Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, Bahrain’s foreign minister, held talks with British foreign secretary Boris Johnson in London. They discussed enhanced bilateral cooperation and coordination, especially to counter terrorist threats and deter those who support, finance and shelter militants, the Saudi press agency reported.

In Moscow, Minister of State Dr Sultan Al Jaber discussed the actions against Qatar with Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov.

“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,” said Dr Al Jaber.

He said the measures taken by the Arab states came after exhausting all efforts to change Qatar’s policy of 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,” said Dr Al Jaber.

He also reviewed with Mr Lavrov the list of designated terrorist groups and individuals Qatar supported.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE issued the list last week.

“Qatar has failed to honour the pledge it made in 2013, to refrain from funding terrorism, interfering in the internal affairs of other countries in the region and destabilising these countries,” said Dr Al Jaber.

“This led to the decision of the ban, to press Doha to back down from such practices, which negatively affect the people of Qatar in the first place.”

Dr Al Jaber said Qatar was trying to distort facts by portraying the measures taken as a blockade against the Qatari people.

“This is untrue, given that Qatar can still use several air and sea routes. Qatar is still engaged in double standards through its misleading media, which promotes terrorism and extremist ideologies,” he said.

On Thursday, a delegation of Saudi, UAE, Bahraini and Egyptian officials visited the headquarters of the International Civil Aviation Organisation in Montreal, Canada, to counter Qatar’s claim. The delegation presented maps and data showing that Qatari ports were open and its aircraft had access to international routes and air space of other countries. Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain also rebutted concerns raised by the UN human rights commissioner this week about the effect of their joint action on Qataris.

They said the measures taken were to protect their national security after exhausting alternatives following Qatar’s failure to honour its previous agreement and its continuing support for terrorist, extremist and sectarian organisations.

Moreover, measures had been taken to address humanitarian and healthcare cases, and hotlines had been set up for affected families to seek help, the three countries said in a joint statement to the United Nations. Kuwait, Oman and other countries have been trying to mediate an end to the dispute, the Arabian Gulf’s biggest diplomatic crisis in years.

Yesterday, Turkey’s foreign minister arrived in Saudi Arabia for talks with King Salman. Mevlut Cavusoglu’s trip follows a meeting with his Kuwaiti counterpart on Thursday.