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Friday 7 June 2019 - 15:01

No solution on horizon to Persian Gulf crisis, says Qatari FM

Story Code : 798269
No solution on horizon to Persian Gulf crisis, says Qatari FM

“There is no solution on the horizon, and the main initiative to resolve the dispute was from Kuwait's Emir (Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah). The regional structure of the [Persian] Gulf Cooperation Council has been undermined due to the blockade imposed on Qatar,” he told Russia's RT Arabic television news network on Thursday on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

Al Thani added, “There are a lot of difficulties because of the pressures and the siege on Qatar. But Doha, through public unity and actions taken by the leadership, has managed to overcome almost all challenges. Nevertheless, there are some social challenges that have directly affected the lives of citizens as some facilities have been dispersed, it is difficult to go to holy places in Saudi Arabia, and the regional security system has been undercut by the siege.”

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut off diplomatic ties with Qatar on June 5, 2017, after officially accusing it of “sponsoring terrorism.”

The administration of the Saudi-backed and former Yemeni president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, Libya, the Maldives, Djibouti, Senegal and the Comoros later joined the camp in ending diplomatic ties with Doha. Jordan downgraded its diplomatic relations as well.

Qatar's Foreign Ministry later announced that the decision to cut diplomatic ties was unjustified and based on false claims and assumptions.

On June 9, 2017, Qatar strongly dismissed allegations of supporting terrorism after the Saudi regime and its allies blacklisted dozens of individuals and entities purportedly associated with Doha.

Later that month, Saudi Arabia and its allies released a 13-point list of demands, including the closure of Al Jazeera television network and downgrade of relations with Iran, in return for the normalization of diplomatic relations with Doha.

The document also asked Qatar to sever all ties with the Muslim Brotherhood and the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement.

Qatar rejected the demands as "unreasonable."
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