Arab officials discuss Qatar with Lebanon’s Saad Hariri

CAIRO – 14 June 2017: The ambassadors of Egypt, United Arab of Emirates and Bahrain along with the Saudi chargé d'affaires met with Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri in Beirut on Monday to discuss the reasons behind the recent decision to sever diplomatic ties with Qatar.

In a joint statement the representatives from the four Arab countries said: “Meeting with Mr. Hariri was to discuss the ongoing diplomatic crisis and showcase the reasons for the Arab countries’ actions towards Qatar, in light of Qatar’s stance on backing terrorism and violent groups.”

The meeting with Hariri reviewed the context behind the Arab countries’ decision to cut diplomatic ties with Qatar, highlighting that this came after several trials to dissuade Qatar from their policies of support for terrorist organizations and expressing their hopes that Lebanese administration would take into account the gravity of these motives.

Two days earlier, the countries’ ambassadors held a related meeting with Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil.

“Similar meetings are scheduled to be held in different countries with foreign officials to deliver an accurate image of the Arab countries’ stance towards Qatar’s violations of international law,” Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid stated to Egypt Today.

Egypt and the three Gulf states announced in a joint statement on Friday that they had included 59 individuals and 12 organizations with ties to Qatar on their terrorism watch lists.