Military ships during a naval exercise by US and Qatari troops in Doha, yesterday.
Qatar’s careful and wise diplomacy has made great successes in explaining its viewpoints and revealing reality of the false accusations levelled against it without evidence or proof. The false accusation were used as a pretext for issuing decisions and imposing arbitrary measures to block Qatar in a historical precedent.
The remarkable successes of Qatari diplomacy put a limit to the efforts the countries that boycotted Qatar and placed them in the ditch of self-defense on more than one occasion.
Over the past ten day and with the help of this careful diplomacy and the directives of Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Qatar has mobilised wide international support and understanding from various friendly and sisterly countries. This has contributed to prevent any action that would disturb the success of Qatar over many years as an active member of the international community and a reliable partner in resolving differences and in establishing the principles of international peace and security.
Since the beginning of the crisis, the contacts between the Emir and a number of world leaders formed reference upon which the Qatari diplomacy built its successful moves to reveal reality and put things in perspective. There is no doubt that when major countries listen to the Emir of Qatar, this gives a strong indication on Doha’s influence and its weight not only in the region but in the whole world.
During the first days of the siege, the Emir received calls from the leaders of France, Russia, the United States of America and Germany, all of whom expressed their willingness to do everything possible to contain the Gulf crisis in order to preserve the security and stability of the region. In other calls, the Emir received from leaders of Kuwait, Turkey and Indonesia, the leaders focus was on the possible means of mediation and expressed solidarity of the peoples of these Arab and Islamic countries with the people of Qatar and their initiative to provide all kinds of assistance and support to the government and the people of Qatar.
Germany reiterated its position vis-a-vis the Gulf crisis and the need to resolve it through dialogue during the phone call received by the Emir from the German Chancellor Angela Merkel, during which she stressed the need to resolve the Gulf crisis through dialogue and pointed to Berlin’s efforts to lift the embargo imposed by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain on the State of Qatar and expressed concern about the possible repercussions of any escalation on the whole region.
Along with the phone calls, Doha was an important stop for leaders and senior officials of friendly and brotherly countries who are keen on finding a solution to the crisis and to break the siege imposed on the State of Qatar and the consequent effects. In this regard, the Emir of Kuwait H H Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah, paid a visit to Doha to confirm the importance of resolving the dispute within the Gulf country and this was also emphasized by HE minister responsible for foreign affairs in the Sultanate of Oman Yousef bin Alawi bin Abdullah during his visit to Qatar.
In order to affirm Turkey’s support for Qatar, HE Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, and HE Turkish Minister of Economy Nihat Zeybekci visited Qatar and underscored the deep Qatari-Turkish relations and Turkey’s active role in containing the crisis and its rejection of the embargo imposed on the State of Qatar.
The State of Qatar’s diplomacy in dealing with the current Gulf crisis parallels the efforts of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with all the ministries, bodies and institutions concerned with the State, to achieve more than one objective at the same time, all of which are aimed at emphasizing the supremacy of national decision-making. On the daily life of the citizen and resident on the land of the State of Qatar.
Since the announcement of the blockade on the June 5, 2017, Qatari diplomacy has been active, at home and through its ambassadors accredited to the various capitals of the world, in communicating with senior officials in those countries to explain the reality of what the State of Qatar is facing.
Qatari diplomatic contacts began and continued during the past ten days through telephone calls between HE the Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani and his counterparts in friendly and sisterly countries. The Qatari view point was communicated to foreign ministers of a number of Arab, European, African, Asian, American and Latin countries as well as to the European Union.
These contacts represented the initial move, which was followed by a successful step towards presenting the country’s perspective on the screens of the top four global news stations (CNN), Russia’s RT, BBC and Al Jazeera, where it has been stressed that the measures taken against the State of Qatar were shocking and represent collective punishment by three countries in the region, which tried to impose a siege on the State of Qatar and its people. It has also been stressed that all disputes need to be resolved through dialogue, in accordance with the principles approved by the GCC leaders.
The Qatari efforts continued at the level of HE Foreign Minister through direct visits and meetings with his counterparts and all decision-makers in five major capitals (Berlin, Brussels, Moscow, London and Paris), as well as meeting with his Turkish counterpart in Doha.
The European tour began with a visit to Berlin, during which HE the Foreign Minister met with his German counterpart Sigmar Gabriel, who expressed his country’s support for Qatar after a number of countries announced cutting off ties with Doha. He said that Qatar has been a strategic partner in counter-terrorism efforts, affirming that his country sees severing ties and imposing a blockade on Qatar as unacceptable.
Stressing the need for resolving the crisis and lifting the land, sea and air blockade on Qatar, German Foreign Minister said that the State of Qatar is an important part of the international coalition against ISIS. “We do not want to weaken this alliance and we must focus on confronting ISIS,” he said.
In Brussels, HE the Foreign Minister met with EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, who expressed hope that the current crisis between the State of Qatar and a number of Gulf countries will be solved through dialogue and political talks, calling for avoiding escalation of the situation in the region. She stressed that regional cooperation and dialogue are the way to adopt a cooperative approach among the countries of the region.
During his visit to Russia and meeting with his counterpart Sergei Lavrov, Russia stressed its support for resolving the crisis through dialogue and Moscow’s non-interference in the affairs of other countries, expressing concern over the current situation and deterioration of relations between neighbors.
In London, the State of Qatar and Britain agreed on the need to support Emir of the State of Kuwait
H H Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah in his efforts to mediate between the State of Qatar and the three Gulf States. British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson was also briefed on developments in the Gulf crisis and all illegal measures taken against the State of Qatar.
Following his meeting with his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian in Paris, HE the Foreign Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, announced that the State of Qatar does not accept foreign dictates and is taking action against the illegal blockade.
The Qatari diplomatic efforts continued on all fronts and included meetings held by HE Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani in Europe as well as those held by HE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi in a number of African countries.
Over three days, the tour of HE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs reflected Qatar’s readiness to keep contacts with friendly and partner countries in Africa that has great influence at international level.
That coincides with the continued efforts by the ambassadors of the State of Qatar with officials and decision-makers in the capitals of the countries accredited to in order to strengthen the effort in clarifying the reality of the State of Qatar’s siege and the unacceptable procedures which violated all international laws. Through its careful diplomacy, Qatar managed to respond to all inquiries and concerns surrounding the false accusations levelled against it and rejected all these accusations. Qatar also enhanced its status in the face of the boycott and blockade and introduced the world public opinion to the really of the conspiracy targeting it.
This was clearly presented by Chairman of the National Committee for Human Rights (NHRC) Dr. Ali bin Smaikh Al Marri during his European tour in London and in Geneva to explain the negative humanitarian impact of the embargo on the State of Qatar before the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Office of Special Procedures on all special rapporteurs of the United Nations, Amnesty International and the International Federation of Journalists and others.
Many international organizations supported the view of the State of Qatar and categorically rejected the pressure exerted on it. Secretary General of Amnesty International Salil Shetty stressed that to deal with the repercussions of the blockade on Qatar and its impact on common families are vague and insufficient, and do not address the human rights situation, , stressing that rights are inherent in the human and can not be waived or fragmented. He stressed that these measures affect all other rights violated by this siege and called for lifting it by saying “Amnesty International continues its international moves to this end.”
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein described the measures that have been taken as too wide in scope and implementation and seriously impede the lives of thousands of women, children and men only because they belong to one of the nationalities of the countries involved in the conflict.
The International Federation strongly condemned the harassment that restricted the right to freedom of opinion and expression and stressed the need to intervene quickly to stop the arbitrary measures that affected the satellite channels rejecting the siege, closing the offices of Al-Jazeera satellite channel and preventing the broadcast of Qatari channels and the channels in solidarity with Qatar as well as the blocking of Qatari newspapers on citizens of the three countries which constitutes a clear violation of freedom of opinion and expression and the right to information.
