Qatar doesn’t commit to its stated principles: Bahraini FM

Bahrain – 4 August 2017: Bahraini Foreign Affairs Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa replied to his Qatari counterpart’s statements on his official Twitter account on Thursday, saying that the “three principles mentioned by the Qatari foreign minister during a press conference held in Italy are the same principles that exist in the Riyadh Agreement, which Qatar did not commit to.”

Then he tweeted again, clarifying that the conference he mentioned was in Doha, not in Italy.


Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa tweet on twitter - printscreen

During a press conference that followed Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani’s meeting with Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano in Doha on Wednesday, the Qatari minister said that the solution to the current Gulf Cooperation Council diplomatic crisis is by following the “three principles”, namely the “non-violation of the sovereignty of any state”, the agreement over “mutual obligations rather than orders”, and reaching a “solution in accordance with international law”, News of Bahrain reported.

The Qatari FM said in the conference with his Italian counterpart that his country did not put forward any conditions for starting a conversation with the boycotting countries, other than guaranteeing that any conversation be based on respecting countries’ sovereignty, Akhbar El-Khaleej reported.

On June 5, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain cut diplomatic ties with Qatar and imposed economic sanctions, accusing the small emirate of funding terrorism, a claim Qatar rejects. They also closed their airspace and seaports to Qatari transportation.

The Arab quartet issued 13 demands to Doha – then shortened to six principles – including closing Al Jazeera TV, curbing relations with Iran and closing a Turkish military base.