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QNA
Doha
Qatar has accused Saudi Arabia and its allies of being responsible for what it called the dissolution of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
The comments were made by Foreign Minister HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al Thani at a joint press conference with his Iraqi counterpart Ibrahim al Jaafari in Doha on Wednesday.
"The blockading countries refuse to start a dialogue after they failed in proving their accusations against Qatar. They continue their unfair and illegal actions affecting the system of the GCC. Qatar holds them responsible for the dissolution of the GCC as a collective security system," Sheikh Mohammed said.
"Their attempts to undermine the Gulf crisis have failed. The failure reflected their inability to see the serious repercussions that are beginning to surface. This was especially clear given the major developments in the region which showed the crisis led to a lack of collective security for the Gulf states," he added.
Sheikh Mohammed said international efforts to combat terrorism and resolve crises in the region have been affected by what he called obstinacy of the embargo countries.
"Qatar adopts a language of reason and calls on all to resort to dialogue and to prove that their fears are based on solid foundation, and not to invest money to demonise Qatar," he said.
The FM said Qatar hopes that wisdom will prevail and the siege countries will overcome their aggressive behavior and move towards a prudent approach that relies on dialogue to settle the crisis.
He added that Qatar is overcoming the crisis but the violations against Qatari people remain.
For his part, Ibrahim al Jaafari said Iraq does not support isolating or besieging any country, stressing that dialogue was indispensable."Dialogue is the only way to move the region from isolation to unity," he added.
Jaafari said his country called for maintaining brotherly relations ever since the outbreak of the GCC crisis.
On the latest Bahraini statements, Sheikh Mohammed said they are ineffective because Bahrain's decisions were not made by it as everyone knows and it joined the siege despite not being involved in the matter.
On the reopening of the Qatari embassy in Iraq, he said there is a clear directive from the Emir HH Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani to urgently reopen and assign an ambassador in Iraq for the Qatar-Iraqi relations to have a fresh start.
Sheikh Mohammed confirmed Qatar's support to Iraq's fight against terrorism and commitment to participation in the country's rebuilding efforts. He praised the victories over the ISIS.
Emphasising Qatar's steady stance on Iraq's unity, the FM saluted the Iraqi government for starting a dialogue with the Kurdistan Regional Government in an effort to avoid Iraq's dissolution, expressing his hope that the dialogue includes all the Iraqi parties including the people of Kurdistan and that these efforts succeed so Iraq can be as before. The FM said he hopes this visit is a new start for the Qatari and Iraqi relations.
The Iraqi FM said Iraq does not support isolating or besieging any country, stressing that dialogue was indispensable."Dialogue is the only way to move the region from isolation to unity," he added.
Jaafari said his country called for maintaining brotherly relations ever since the outbreak of the GCC crisis. He expressed hope that his visit to Qatar will represent a positive turn in ties politically, economically, and in terms of security as well. He hoped that the visit will help enhance Arab ties.
He said Qatar and Iraq are united by politics, economy, and security."Now, Iraq is not only focused on geographic proximity, but is looking to enhance cooperation with all countries in the region led by Qatar," he said.
Jaafari said the Iraqi-Iranian ties are based on joint interest and were not established at the expense of other countries. He also said the ties focus on facing joint threats such as IS. He called on all to put aside regional differences to face that threat.
He said Iraq is always looking to put its ties to beneficial use for its brothers and Iraq is concerned with bringing the GCC and Iran closer.
