Qatar is seeking to internationalise the boycott by the four Arab countries [Egypt, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain].
The past few days witnessed Qatari maneuvers to complain to several international bodies, such as the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the World Trade Organisation (WTO), and the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). The permanent representative and ambassador of Egypt to the United Nations office at Geneva, Amr Ramadan, said that the country has entreated international parties, and is portraying itself as a victim.
These statements come a few hours before the end of the ten-day deadline that was given to Qatar by the Saudi-led coalition to respond to a list of demands. The deadline is reportedly set to end on Sunday.
Ramadan added in a statement that the Qatari delegation in the WTO brought up the issue of recent procedures against Doha in the two councils of trading on services and goods. Egypt participated in a quartet maneuver to face the Qatari maneuvers, claiming that the procedures taken by the four Arab countries are in accordance with the law of the WTO’s rules and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).
Regarding the statements of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid bin Ra’ad Zeid Al Hussein, Egypt’s representative said that these statements are considered as a political position, especially because the humanitarian side in this issue doesn’t reflect the reality, and he [Al Hussein] forgot to point out the necessity of the Qatari commitment to not support terrorism due to its negative impacts on human rights. Also, he did not mention the situation of human rights in Qatar.
On Friday, Qatar’s foreign minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, asked members of the United Nations Security Council to urge the Saudi-led bloc of states to lift their blockade on the Gulf country, coming nearly one month after it began.
During his meeting with non-permanent members of the Security Council at the Qatari mission to the UN in the US state of New York, Al Thani urged them to call for a lift of the blockade on Qatar, giving them the updates on the situation.
On Saturday, Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, Adel Al-Jubair, said that a 13-point list of demands given to Qatar to end the Gulf rift were “non-negotiable”, adding that the restrictions on Qatar show zero tolerance for terrorism.
Qatar’s foreign minister said on Saturday during a press conference in the Italian capital of Rome that the list of demands issued by Saudi Arabia and its allies were meant to be rejected. He added that these demands violate the sovereignty of the state of Qatar, urging for dialogue and negotiations.
Professor of political science at Cairo University Hassan Nafea told Daily News Egypt he expects less escalatory procedures after the end of the deadline, unless these countries [Saudi-led coalition] were thinking about military action or an internal coup in Doha.
Nafaa believes that the US position will be the critical position, and these countries won’t go against the American course.
