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Agencies
Stockholm
Qatar has welcomed Saudi Arabia's decision to reopen the land border for Qatari pilgrims but insisted that Hajj should not be politicised.
The move should also include a full lifting of the political and economic blockade imposed on Qatar by Saudi Arabia and three other countries, Foreign Minister HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al Thani told a press conference in Stockholm.
"Regardless of the manner in which pilgrims from Qatar or living in Qatar were banned from the pilgrimage, which was politically motivated, and the manner in which they were subsequently permitted to make the pilgrimage, which was also politicised and which was announced with other goals in mind... the government of Qatar welcomes the decision and will respond positively," Sheikh Mohammed said.
"What matters to us is the bottom line, which is that our citizens now have a way to attend the Hajj (pilgrimage), and we uphold our demand that Hajj be spared politicisation and remain separate from our political issues," he added.
Saudi Arabia has announced it would open the Salwa border crossing to Qatari pilgrims for the annual Hajj pilgrimage to the city of Makkah.
The crossing had been sealed off for more than two months as a diplomatic crisis between the Saudi and Qatari governments has seen severe restrictions on travel imposed on citizens across the region.
Riyadh's decision to reopen the border came hours after Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met on Wednesday with a member of the ruling family of Qatar.
The FM said the member of the ruling family met the Saudi Crown Prince in Jeddah in his"personal capacity" and not on behalf of the Qatar government.
The FM, however, said Saudi Arabia has not yet clarified the mechanism through which it will receive pilgrims from Qatar.
Sheikh Mohammed stressed that Qatar welcomes any move by Saudi Arabia to contribute to the exclusion of humanitarian aspects from the political dispute.
He said Qatar supports efforts to resolve the crisis through dialogue.
"We are ready for dialogue and we have affirmed our desire for a dialogue based on respect for state policy without any dictates on any country," he said.
