Arab states: U.S-Qatar anti-terrorism funding MoU 'not enough'

CAIRO - 11 July 2017: Four Arab countries said that Tuesday’s signing of an anti-terrorism funding agreement between the United States and Qatar came as a result of similar previous demands by Arabs to Doha, according to a joint statement.

In the statement, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Bahrain, referred to the MoU as “not enough” step, and that the four countries will closely monitor the seriousness of the Qatari authorities in fighting all forms of terrorism financing.

They praised efforts by the United States in combating terrorism and its financing.
The four countries ensured that procedures they took against Qatar were due to Doha’s different activities in supporting terrorism, spreading discourse of hatred and extremism, and interfering in internal affairs of other countries. The statement added that all these activities should stop completely.

It continued: “The Qatari authorities have consistently revoked all the agreements and commitments, the most recent of which was the 2013 Riyadh Agreement, which led to the withdrawal of the [Arab] ambassadors and their return only after the Qatari authorities signed the supplementary agreement in 2014, it [Doha] continued to intervene, incite, conspire and embrace terrorists, finance terrorist operations.”

The countries added that they cannot trust any commitments made by Qatar unless there are strict controls to verify its seriousness in returning to normal track.

The four Arab states concluded their statement by saying that they will continue in the measures they took against Doha “until the Qatari authorities are committed to the implementation of the demands that ensure addressing terrorism, and achieving stability and security in the region.”