Bahrain FM slams Qatar for its support of terrorism

CAIRO – 24 September 2017: Bahrain had every sovereign right to take action against Qatar after Doha supported terrorist acts in Bahrain to overthrow the regime, said Bahraini Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa in New York on Saturday.

The minister’s speech before the 72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA 72) focused on his country’s efforts to counter extremism and terrorism in the region, particularly in the Gulf area.

“The Kingdom of Bahrain exhausted all available means to halt Qatar's policies that … provided financial support and a safe haven to terrorists and fugitives, and disseminated a discourse of hate and extremism via its media and institutions supporting it,” Al-Khalifa said.

He accused Qatar of supporting systematic terrorist acts that cost Bahrain the lives of many innocent civilians and security personnel, with a view to overthrow the government system with the help of associated parties.

The Gulf has been hit by its biggest diplomatic crisis in the years after Arab nations, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain cut ties with Qatar, accusing it of destabilising the region with its support for Islamist groups.

The Arab quartet halted all land, air and sea traffic with Qatar, and withdrew their diplomats and ambassadors from the Qatari peninsula. The Arab quartet issued 13 demands to Doha – then shortened to six principles – including closing Al Jazeera television, curbing relations with Iran and shutting a Turkish military base.


“If Qatar is serious, by acting and not only through words, to engage in a dialogue and reclaim its place among us, it must respond positively and commit itself in all transparency to our just demands, based on the principles enshrined in the declaration issued by the meeting of the four countries in Cairo on 5 July 2017,” Al-Khalifa stressed.