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Jubeir: Qatar Must Change Harmful Policies | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir and his German counterpart Sigmar Gabriel address a press conference in Jeddah on Monday. SPA


Jeddah- Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said that boycotting Gulf and Arab countries hope that Qatar’s response to the demands “will be positive.”

“The aim of the measures taken against Qatar is to change its policies that harm it, the countries of the region and other nations of the world,” Jubeir told a press conference alongside his German counterpart Sigmar Gabriel in Jeddah.

“We look forward to receiving this response, reviewing it carefully and then taking the appropriate measures towards it,” Jubeir added.

The Saudi Foreign Minister said that he agreed with his German counterpart on the importance of stopping the support and finance of terrorist groups across the world, as well as stopping Qatar’s incitement of extremism through its media channels and Doha’s interference in the internal affairs of neighboring countries.

Asked by a reporter whether Jubeir found a difference in Germany’s stance since the beginning of the crisis with Qatar, the foreign minister said: “Actually from the beginning of the crisis we found no change in Germany’s stance. They stand with us on the same principles that supporting terrorism must stop.”

Jubeir confirmed that most of what was demanded from Qatar was already included in the list of requests agreed in the 2013 and 2014 Riyadh agreements signed by Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim Al-Thani, adding that it was agreed to extend the deadline granted to Qatar at the request of the Kuwaiti mediators.

For his part, Gabriel said the stand-off between Qatar and its Arab neighbors would best be resolved by an agreement across the region to prevent the financing of terrorism.

“An agreement on ending any kind of support for terrorist or extremist organizations would be the best solution to the crisis. We all know that this support is not organized by states, but often by private persons, but we must somehow succeed in ending support in the region for extremist and terrorist organizations.”

He vowed support to Kuwait’s mediation efforts to restore the good relations between the Gulf neighbors so as to maintain the region’s stability.