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UAE: Measures against Qatar Comply with WTO Agreements | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Foreign Ministers of UAE Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan, Egypt’s Sameh Shoukry, Bahrain’s Khalid bin Ahmed al-Khalifa and Saudi Arabia’s Adel al-Jubeir meet in Manama, Bahrain. (AP)


Dubai – The economic procedures taken by Saudi Arabia, UAE and Bahrain against Qatar are permissible in case a country’s national security was violated, announced Jouma’a al-Kit, assistant under secretary for foreign trade at the UAE Ministry of Economy.

Commenting on Qatari’s legal complaint at the World Trade Organization (WTO) against the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, he said that WTO allows by virtue of its services and goods trade agreements to suspend privileges granted to a state in certain circumstances, which were present in the case of Qatar.

In a statement to Asharq Al-Awsat, he added that the taken measures do not contradict with WTO agreements, but actually comply with its terms.

“These terms allow any WTO member to use them when taking any procedure seen as essential to protect national interests or to execute obligations of the UN charter,” Kit continued.

Qatar filed a wide-ranging legal complaint at the WTO Monday to challenge a boycott by Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE, Qatar’s WTO representative Ali al-Waleed Al-Thani said.

Anwar Gargash, UAE state minister for foreign affairs, declared that Qatar’s strategy in dealing with the crisis will fail because it does not tackle the roots of the problem, the support of extremism and its meddling to undermine the region’s security and stability.

Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and UAE stated earlier that they would allow Qatari airplanes to use their air corridors in emergencies. Nine corridors have been identified by the four boycotting states in coordination with neighboring countries, revealed the General Authority of Civil Aviation.