UAE will ‘have to go on without Qatar’ – Gargash

The conflict in the GCC with Qatar appears to show no signs of easing, with the UAE’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr Anwar Gargash suggesting that it was ‘time to move on’.

In a series of tweets on Wednesday, Gargash accused Qatar of being a “conservative Gulf monarchy” and an “anachronistic place”.

He said the Gulf state “promotes policies and values it does not practice”.

The 4 states emerging from crisis representing core policies of confronting extremism & terrorism & working for Arab security & stability.

— د. أنور قرقاش (@AnwarGargash) July 26, 2017

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt severed all ties with Qatar last month, accusing the Gulf state of supporting terrorism and backing Iran. They sent a list of demands to Qatar, which Doha refused to comply with.

“Now that the Qatar crisis has taken so long, [it is] important to look beyond “crisis” and think of it as new set of relations in Gulf replacing old ones,” Gargash tweeted.

“Barring Qatar’s review of past policies, current state will continue for a while. New regional relationships will emerge and strengthen,” he said.

He added: “We have to go on without Qatar”.

His comments comes after the Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain announced earlier this week that nine entities and nine individuals have been added to their terror lists because of alleged links with Qatar.

The “terrorist activities” of the 18 entities and individuals have “direct and indirect ties with the Qatari authorities”, a statement said.

The four countries acknowledged the recent agreement signed between Qatar and the US to stop terror funding, but said more was needed.

“The four states consider this step, even if it is a submission to the tough demands to combat terrorism and one of many awaited steps to achieve the Qatari authorities’ return to the right track, not enough,” the statement said.

“The next long awaited practical step is taking an urgent action by the Qatari authorities to make legal and practical actions to prosecute terrorist and extremist individuals and entities,” it added.

The four countries also confirmed that the current sanctions against Qatar will continue, and said that possible future measures that might also be taken.

Read more: Saudi, UAE, Bahrain and Egypt blacklist 18 individuals and entities