Qatar's FM says the blockading nations' list of demands was meant to be rejected

With the siege of Qatar about to pass the one-month mark, the crisis situation does not seem to be any closer to resolution.  

Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE had come out with a list of 13 demands for Qatar to implement, within 10 days, if the blockade was to be lifted. But Qatar dismissed it saying it was neither ‘reasonable nor actionable.’

Qatar’s foreign minister HE Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani has now gone a step further and said that the demands were meant to be rejected, reported Gulf Times.

He stressed that the demands violated international law and did not look to combat terrorism and instead focused on undermining and infringing on Qatar’s sovereignty, striking down on the freedom of press, and imposing auditing and probation mechanisms against the State of Qatar.

Sheikh Mohammed stressed that Qatar wanted to have a dialogue with the three countries, but under suitable conditions. He said Qatar was trying to be more practical with Kuwaiti mediation, which is co-ordinated and supported by the US.

The siege imposed on Qatar had led to a humanitarian crisis for many families, with as many as 13,000 people being affected.

Sheikh Mohamed stressed that those measures were collective punishment, a violation of international law, and the UN Charter. He said the countries which took those measures did not respect international law.

The minister added the siege countries implemented those measures without resorting to the conflict-resolution mechanisms agreed upon in the 2014 Riyadh agreement.

The minister said that Qatar had no reservations against discussing any grievances those countries have, provided there was a clear basis for those grievances, that they do not violate the sovereignty of any country, and that they don’t impose any guardianship which is something rejected by Qatar.