Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

Discussions to Freeze Qatar’s Membership in GCC, Arab League | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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An aerial view shows the diplomatic area of Doha, Qatar. Reuters


Riyadh- Discussions may lead to freezing Qatar’s membership in the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Arab League if it continues with its supporting terrorism and harming the interests of the Gulf and Arab countries, sources told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Sources did not rule out the suspension of Qatar’s membership in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) as another expected step in response to the country’s actions and non-commitment to the outcome of the Riyadh summit in which 55 Islamic countries participated with the United States.

The summit’s most significant outcome was agreeing to fight the financing of terrorism and extremism. The sources did not give any further details regarding when these steps would be implemented.

For his part, Saudi Military and Strategic Analyst Col Ibrahim al-Marie said that Qatar has to take concrete steps before embarking any new reconciliation. Qatar is demanded to put Muslim Brotherhood on its terrorist list and force all the leaders of this organization to leave Qatar.

“Qatar must stop sponsoring terrorist organizations and hosting the terrorist Muslim Brotherhood, and it should agree with the Gulf states on listing it as a terrorist group and ordering its members to leave its lands,” Marie said.

The reconciliation process will start when “Qatar stops financing and supporting the terrorist organizations, Saudi extremist opposition, and terrorist figures in London,” Marie added.

He explained that Qatar pays for offices and residences of terrorist organizations and pays salaries to their members. It also threatens Egypt’s security in Sinai and supports extremist organizations in Libya. All these facts have become clear for the international community, he added.

“The international community has been harmed by Qatar’s policies, and it should simply change them and stop its acts.”

On the other hand, sources said that Saudi Foreign Ministry met on Tuesday with a number of Asian Ambassadors in Riyadh to explain the reason of the recent conflicts with Qatar and the Qatari practices that are risking the national security of Saudi Arabia and other Gulf and Arab states.