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UAE: Boycotting States Have Evidence of Qatar’s Funding of Terror Groups | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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UAE Ambassador to Washington Yousef al-Otaiba. (UAE Embassy in Washington)


Riyadh, Washington – The United Arab Emirates said Friday that the four countries boycotting Qatar have conclusive evidence that Doha is financing extremist organizations in the region, including the terrorist al-Nusra Front.

Meanwhile, foreign ministers of the four anti-terrorism countries are preparing for a meeting in Manama to discuss the latest developments in the Qatari crisis.

UAE Ambassador to Washington Yousef al-Otaiba revealed that the four countries (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain and Egypt) have conclusive evidence to indict Doha for its support of armed militias in Syria, Libya and Somalia, in addition to supporting al-Qaeda in Syria, the Muslim Brotherhood, and many others including Hamas and the Taliban.

Otaiba told US TV channel PBS that Doha has the right to continue to do what it wants and support who it wants. The four countries in return have the right to continue their boycott and to take the measures that safeguard their rights and security as they wish.

He pointed out that the Washington-led international coalition against ISIS could triumph, but that would not be possible without putting an end to funding terrorism from foreign parties.

The ambassador said that the cause of the difference between the four boycotting countries and Qatar is the lack of its commitment to the charters and treaties that were signed in Riyadh in 2013 and 2014.

He stressed that the Gulf states and Egypt cannot agree to the policies of Doha that are contrary to the approach of the Gulf fold. The Gulf crisis is about a fundamental clash of visions over the future of the Middle East, the UAE’s ambassador to Washington said.

“Our disagreement is about what the future of the Middle East should look like and that’s something we haven’t been able to square with the Qataris for a long time,” Otaiba added.

For his part, Michael Morell, a former deputy director of the CIA, said that Qatar has money and relations with extremist groups, and it sees itself oppressed as a country in foreign policy, so it formed allies with these groups and funded them to get the external power it wants.