
HH The Emir speaks out about Gulf crisis, reasons for it and Trump’s plans to help

HH The Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who had maintained a dignified silence in the face of the illegal, aggressive blockade by Qatar’s neighbouring countries, has spoken out.
HH The Emir spoke exclusively to CBSN’s 60 Minutes show, hosted by Charlie Rose, in Doha in early October, a few weeks after meeting US president Donald Trump on the sidelines of the 72nd United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Earlier this month, HH The Emir had been spotted in Katara shooting for the interview, much to the delight of the onlookers. The king had also stopped to meet and greet people during the shoot.
During the interview, HH The Emir said that Trump offered to hold a meeting at his retreat in Camp David to put an end to the ongoing Gulf diplomatic crisis, which began on June 5.
He said that Trump’s plan was to bring Gulf leaders together to try and resolve the crisis. However, Sheikh Tamim said the plan had not moved ahead much.
“It’s true, he [Trump] suggested that we come. I told him straight away, ‘Mr. President we’re very ready, I've been asking for dialogue from day one,’” Sheikh Tamim said.
“It was supposed to be very soon, this meeting, but I don’t have any responses,” Al Jazeera quoted HH The Emir added.
Sheikh Tamim said he was worried about chaos in the Middle East if the Gulf diplomatic crisis continues to escalate.
“I’m fearful that if anything happens, any military act happens, this region will be in chaos,” said HH The Emir.
‘They don’t like our independence’
HH The Emir also spoke strongly about what he thinks was the real reason behind the blockade.
“They don’t like our independence. We want freedom of speech for the region, they think that this is a threat to them,” he said, according to a report in CBS News.
When the interviewer asked if Qatar would bow to their demands of shutting down Al Jazeera and sever ties with Iran, the emir responded in strong terms.
“Our sovereignty is a red line. We don’t accept anybody interfering [with] our sovereignty. No, we’re not going to shut down Al Jazeera,” he said, while leaving the door wide open for negotiations.
“If they going to walk one meter toward me, I'm willing to walk 10,000 miles towards them,” he said in the interview.
The Iran accusations
The aggressors have accused Qatar of harbouring close relations with Iran and destabilising the region. But HH The Emir hit back at the accusations in strong language.
“Iran is our neighbour. We’ve lots of differences and foreign policies with Iran, more than them. But let me tell you one thing, Charlie. When those countries, our brothers, blocked everything, blocked medicine, blocked food, the only way for us to provide food and medicine for our people was through Iran. And when they talk about terrorism, absolutely not. We don’t support terrorism,” he said, according to CBS News.
Watch the exclusive interview
The exclusive interview will be telecast at 2am on Monday Doha time (Sunday 11pm GMT), according to The Peninsula.