Qatar: Saudi parliamentarian, Doha's stance in the fight against terrorism is wrong
The chairman of the friendship commission between the Saudi parliament and the European parliament, Khaled Bin Mashari, said that the position taken by Qatar, regarding the fight against terrorism, is wrong. The decision taken by our country against Doha falls within our power to take action against terrorism. Mashari, speaking to the Saudi press agency "Spa" during a visit to Brussels to meet the members of the European Commission, explained that Saudi Arabia enjoys a prominent position in the religious, political and economic fields and everyone is watching to the development of our country. During his trip, the Saudi prince also met a delegation of European parliamentarians with whom he discussed issues of regional and international interest. On June 5, four Arab and Gulf countries - Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates - announced the breakdown of diplomatic relations with Doha and withdrew their ambassadors from the country, accusing it of supporting terrorism.
The closure of the airspace has implied the interdiction of territorial waters. The measures were also joined by Eritrea, Mauritania, Maldives, Chad, the Yemeni government of President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi and the unrecognized Libyan executive of Al Baida, among others. Jordan, Djibouti and Niger have downgraded their diplomatic representations, while Senegal, after first downgrading its diplomatic representation in Doha, recently announced the return of the ambassador, effectively normalizing relations. Countries like Iran and Turkey immediately sided with Qatar by sending food. On 23 June, the Kuwaiti authorities, which play a mediating role, handed Qatar a list of 13 requests submitted by the Gulf countries to end the crisis. Among the requests, which had to be satisfied by Doha within 10 days (expiring on 3 July), there were the closure of the television station “Al Jazeera” and the end of relations with Iran. A third request concerned the closure of the Turkish military base in Qatar and the end of cooperation between Ankara and Doha. The Qatari authorities had immediately made it known that they considered the 13 requests "unreasonable" and "hostile" to national sovereignty.
On July 30, in a meeting organized in Manama, Bahrain, the four boycott countries stressed that at the moment there is no reason to be "optimistic" about a quick resolution of the crisis with Doha due to the counterpart's behavior. The four countries confirm that all the measures adopted are part of the duty of sovereignty and are in line with international law, ”said Bahraini Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid Bin Ahmad al Khalifa. In the joint press conference, the ministers of the four countries confirmed their resolve to demand Qatar respect the requests sent in recent weeks which include the closure of relations with Iran and the closure of the pan-Arab television station " Al Jazeera ". At the Manama meeting, the four boycott countries confirmed that Qatar has provided a safe haven for terrorists in recent years, again inviting Doha to meet the 13 requests. On 9 September the "Quartet" reaffirmed its position by extinguishing the timid signs of optimism on a resolution of the crisis announced a few days earlier by the Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah al Ahmed al Jaber al Sabah, during the joint press conference in Washington with the President of the United States, Donald Trump. The uncompromising position of the four Arab countries also emerged in the exchange of accusations between the media of the two countries, in particular the Saudi broadcaster "al Arabiya" and the agency "Spa" and the Qatari "Qna", regarding the content of a telephone conversation between the heir to the Saudi throne, Mohammed bin Salman, and the emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad al Thani. According to the "Qna", the interview, which took place on September 9, could change the diplomatic scenario for a resolution of the crisis, however the Saudi "Spa" denied what was reported by the state agency of the Qatar pointing out that it will not launch any dialogue to end the diplomatic crisis in the Gulf if the Qatar it will not officially clarify its position.