Bahrains Ministry of Foreign Affairs Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed - File photo/Wikimedia
CAIRO – 24 June 2017: Bahraini foreign minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa said Saturday that his country respects Qatar’s sovereignty regarding its land, people, borders and all of its internal political affairs.
“At the same time, we won’t allow anyone to consider backing terrorism and militants as part of any state’s sovereignty,” Khalifa tweeted Friday.
Khalifa’s remarks come in response to Qatari officials’ earlier statements that the Arab Gulf states’ demands to reconcile with Doha are considered to be “interfering in the internal political affairs of their country.”
On June 23, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt and Bahrain sent a list of 13 demands to the Qatari government, including closing Al Jazeera television, reducing ties with Iran and closing a Turkish military base in Qatar.
The four countries severed diplomatic ties with Doha and closed their airspace and seaports to Qatari transportation for its “continuous support for terrorism” on June 5.
Later, Egypt and the Gulf states gave the Qatari diplomatic missions in their countries 48 hours to leave.
On June 6, Kuwaiti Emir Sabah Al-Ahmad started a tour that included Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar in an attempt to mediate between the three countries.
Qatar’s relations with several Arab and Gulf States have been strained since May 24, when the Qatari state-run news agency reported statements by Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim Al Thani regarding Gulf foreign policy with Iran, describing it as “unwise.” Qatar denied the statements and said the news agency had been hacked.
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