Saudi minister: ‘Solution to Qatar’s crisis in Doha’s hands’

Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir has said that Qatar has to take steps to resolve the regional conflict in the GCC.

Following a meeting with UN secretary general Antonio Guterres on the sidelines of the UN general assembly in New York, Al-Jubeir said that “the solution to the crisis with Qatar is in Doha’s hands and that it started because of Qatar’s failure to stop supporting terrorism and interfering in the internal affairs of the countries of the region”, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt severed diplomatic and trade ties with Qatar on June 5, accusing Doha of funding and supporting terrorist organisations. Qatar has denied the allegations.

The four Arab countries also held a ministerial-level meeting in New York on Monday to discuss the issue.

“We are seeking for the relations [with Qatar] to be normal, that Qatar would stop supporting and funding terrorism, as well as destabilising and interfering in the internal affairs of four states, if that happens, this is what we are asking for,” Egypt’s foreign minister Sameh Shoukry was quoted as saying by The National.

Kuwait has been seeking to mediate between the Arab countries and Qatar, but negotiations so far have been unsuccessful.

US President Donald Trump also held a three-way phone call with the leaders of Saudi and Qatar earlier this month in a bid to resolve the crisis, although nop solution was reached.

Trump is also meeting with the Qatari emir, Tamim bin Hamad al Thani and the Egyptian president, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi this week.