Qatar’s defence minister talks straight about the ongoing GCC crisis
Since June 5, four of Qatar’s neighbouring nations have been subjecting it to an illegal siege. However, Qatar refused to budge an inch from their stand and the crisis has continued endlessly.
One of the main accusations the siege countries have levelled against Qatar is that it supports terrorism. But Qatar’s defence minister HE Dr Khalid bin Mohamed Al Attiyah flatly rejected the accusations yesterday, reported Gulf Times.
He said Qatar had never supported any extremist groups in any parts of the world.and had instead only worked alongside international coalitions to ensure people’s welfare.
Talking to Al Haqiqa (The Truth) programme broadcast on Qatar TV, HE Dr Al Attiyah said that the Arab Spring uprisings annoyed many countries and regimes in the region but Qatar had not supported any group in particular, saying that Doha backed only the aspirations of the Arab people.
“Qatar did not experience such troubles due to its steadfast development plans that have been started earlier and focused on the welfare of the people,” he said.
Regarding the current Gulf crisis, Al Attiyah said it had its origin in 1996.
“It was followed by unfriendly acts in 2013 and 2014 and culminated in the severing of ties and the blockade of Qatar on June 5 this year.
“I was a witness to a number of previous crises in the region, but it’s the first time to see something like this. The crisis began by hacking Qatar News Agency and attributing false statement to HH The Emir. I was witness to the fact that HH didn’t speak at that event to anyone except a young man — Ghanem Al Moftah.
“There was no need for siege countries to use this as a pretext to cut ties and impose the siege on Qatar,” Al Attiyah, who is also Qatar’s Deputy Prime Minister, was quoted as saying by The Peninsula.
He also said Qatar’s armed forces were by far the best in the region. He also said that there was a new law for national service before the Shura Council.
“The Qatari armed forces are distinguished, the units, the officers, the non-commissioned officers, and the members of the armed forces. I say with pride that they excel at the regional level. Their readiness and morale are high. And there’s guidance from HH The Emir to develop the armed forces,” he was quoted as saying by Qatar Tribune.
He revealed that a new law for national service is now before the Shura Council.
“We’ve developed the National Service Law to meet the needs of the youth,” he said.
