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Saudi Arabia Suspends Dialogue with Doha after Qatar News Agency Report | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. (SPA)


Saudi Arabia announced that it has suspended any dialogue or contact with the Qatari authority until it clarifies a report that was released by the Qatar News Agency (QNA) on the telephone call received by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman from Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

An official from the Saudi Foreign Ministry said that the QNA report “did not have any relevance to truth,” according to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) on Saturday.

What QNA published is the Qatari authority’s continuation of the distortion of the facts, he added.

It clearly shows that the Qatari authority has not yet understood that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is not ready at all to tolerate the change of agreements and facts by the Qatari authority. This is evident in the distortion of the content of the contact received by the Crown Prince from the Emir of the State of Qatar minutes after its completion.

The contact was made at Qatar’s request and its call for dialogue with the four countries over their demands. This proves that the Qatar authority is not serious in its dialogue and that it is still adopting its old policies, which are rejected, stressed the source.

Saudi Arabia therefore announces its suspension of any dialogue or contact with the authority in Qatar until it makes a clear statement in which it openly declares its stance.

Its declared stances should match what it commits to, added the Foreign Ministry source.

He also noted that the discrepancies in the Qatari policy do not help in building the trust needed to hold dialogue.

Prince Mohammed had received a telephone call from Sheikh Tamim, who voiced a desire to hold dialogue to discuss the demands of the four boycotting countries in a way that ensures the interests of all sides.

Prince Mohammed welcomed the call.

SPA had prior to the QNA report said that the details of the talks between the Saudi and Qatari officials will be revealed after Riyadh reaches an understanding with the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt.