Saudi, UAE, Bahrain and Egypt respond to leaked secret documents

The UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt have said the leaked “secret agreements” signed by Qatar with the rest of the GCC countries in 2013 and 2014 proves that Doha has ‘failed to meet its commitments’.

The agreements were released by CNN on Monday and were reportedly obtained from a source in the region.

Under the first agreement (Riyadh Agreement)- signed in 2013, the following points were agreed upon (according to a translation by CNN)-

1. No interference in the internal affairs of the Council’s states, whether directly or indirectly. Not to give asylum/refuge or give nationality to any citizen of the Council states that has an activity opposes his country’s regimes, except with the approval of his country; no support to deviant groups that oppose their states; and no support for antagonistic media.

2. No support to the Muslim Brotherhood or any of the organisations, groups or individuals that threaten the security and stability of the Council states through direct
security work or through political influence.

3. Not to present any support to any faction in Yemen that could pose a threat to countries neighboring Yemen.

Meanwhile the second agreement, signed in 2014, reached the following conclusions (according to a translation by CNN)-

1. Stressing that non-committing to any of the articles of the Riyadh Agreement and its executive measure amounts to a violation of the entirety of the agreement.

2. What the intelligence chiefs have reached in the aforementioned report is considered a step forward to implement (not clear because of the bad resolution, it could be SAVE)Riyadh Agreement and its executive measures, with the necessity of the full commitment to implementing everything stated in them(agreement and the Intelligence report) within the period of one month from the date of the agreement.

3. Not to give refuge, employ, or support whether directly or indirectly, whether domestically or abroad, to any persons or a media apparatus that harbors inclinations harmful to any Gulf Cooperation Council state. Every state is committed to taking all the regulatory, legal and judicial measures against anyone who [commits] any encroachment against Gulf Cooperation Council states, including putting him on trial and announcing it in the media.

4. All countries are committed to the Gulf Cooperation Council discourse to support the Arab Republic of Egypt, and contributing to this security, stability and its financial support; and ceasing all meida activity directed against the Arab Republic of Egypt in all media platforms, whether directly or indirectly, including all the offenses broadcasted on Al-jazeera, Al-Jazeera Mubashir Masr, and to work to stop all offenses in Egyptian media.

The leak of the documents comes as the rift has widened between Qatar and the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt.

The four Arab states cut all diplomatic and transport ties with Qatar last month, accusing the Gulf state of supporting terrorist groups and backing Iran.

They submitted a list of 13 demands to Qatar, which were rejected by Doha.

In a joint statement issued by the four Arab countries and shared by official news agency WAM on Monday, they said: “The four countries assert that the documents published by CNN, including the Riyadh Agreement (2013), its executive mechanism and the Riyadh Supplementary Agreement (2014), confirm beyond any doubt Qatar’s failure to meet its commitments and its full violation of its pledges.

“The four countries emphasise that the 13 demands submitted to the Qatari government were to fulfill their previous pledges and commitments and that the demands were originally stated in the Riyadh agreement, its mechanism and the supplementary agreement and are fully in line with the spirit of what was agreed upon.”