Escalation between Qatar and Quartet envoys in Arab League meeting

Daily News Egypt
2 Min Read
Arab League foreign ministers Meeting (Photo by Mohamed Omar)

The last meeting of the opening of the 148 round of Arab Ministers of Foreign Affairs, which was held in Cairo Tuesday, witnessed sharp arguments between the Qatari envoy in the Arab League on a side, and representatives of the four countries boycotting Qatar on the other side.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry denounced Qatar’s envoy’s statement, describing it as “unacceptable”.

Shoukry said, “We know very well Qatar’s long history in supporting terrorism, and its support for terrorists in Syria with weapons, even inside Egypt that killed so many.”

The beginning was when Emirati Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash accused the Qatari authorities of supporting terrorism, demanding Doha to respond to the 13 demands of the Quartet as an only solution for the crisis.

These accusations were denied by Qatar’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Sultan Bin Saad Al-Muraikhi, who accused Saudi Arabia of planning to overthrow the Qatari regime.

Al-Muraikhi also described Iran as an honorable country, whose ties have warmed with Doha since “the blockade”.

Saudi Arabia’s envoy to the Arab League and Ambassador to Egypt Ahmed Al-Qattan responded to the Qatari envoy by saying “congratulations to Iran … Qatar will regret.”

Responding to what the Qatari envoy said about Saudi attempts to overthrow the Qatari regime, Al-Qattan said his country has no intention for this, but “Saudi Arabia can do anything it wants.”

Professor of Political Science at Suez Canal University Gamal Zahran told Daily News Egypt that the status quo will last for a long time, and the four countries want to retreat but they do not know how, so they escalate.

Zahran believes that the five countries, including Qatar, are following US orders, and the most dangerous part in the meeting was the Saudi threat against Doha.

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