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Qatar-GCC diplomatic dispute not resolved: source | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Foreign Ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states, attend the 131th meeting of the council’s, on June 2, 2014 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (AFP/Fayez Nureldine)


Foreign Ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states, attend the 131th meeting of the council's, on June 2, 2014 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (AFP/Fayez Nureldine)

Foreign Ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states, attend the 131th meeting of the council’s, on June 2, 2014 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (AFP/Fayez Nureldine)

London, Asharq Al-Awsat—The Gulf’s diplomatic crisis over Qatar is ongoing, a high-level Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) diplomat told Asharq Al-Awsat on Monday, as a deadline announced last week for Qatar to implement the Doha Agreement is set to expire on Wednesday.

The Gulf diplomat, speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media, said: “The reality on the ground does not indicate that Qatar will respect its commitments to its fraternal GCC states.”

Qatar has fallen out with other GCC countries over its regional policy, which its neighbors say is disruptive and a threat to Gulf security. Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE recalled their ambassadors from Doha in March in order to “protect their security and stability.” A joint statement said that Qatar had failed to commit to the principles of the GCC.

The Doha Agreement announced in April sought to put an end to the Gulf diplomatic dispute. A statement issued at the time, said: “It was agreed to adopt mechanisms to guarantee a collective framework and to ensure that policies of any of the GCC countries would not affect interests, security and stability of the countries or undermine their sovereignty.”

The Gulf source referred to a statement issued last year by the International Union for Muslim Scholars, headed by Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi who is based in Qatar, about the raid on pro-Mursi protesters in Cairo’s Rabaa Al-Adawiya Square in 2013 as evidence of Doha’s inability to meet its regional commitments. The statement described the raid on protesters as a “massacre” carried out by Egypt’s post-Mursi “putschist leadership.”

However the source added that Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain, continue to hope that “the fraternal state Qatar completely fulfill its commitments, even if it does so on the last day of the deadline.”

In earlier comments to Asharq Al-Awsat, Qatari Foreign Minister Khalid Al-Attiyah said he could not comment on Doha’s position until after the deadline ends, but stressed that Doha wishes “the best for the Gulf.”