Ever since the start of the ongoing Gulf crisis on June 5, tensions have been rising in the different blockading countries. 

After initially choosing not to react and thus escalate the crisis, Qatar made official complaints against the blockading countries at the World Trade Organisation and the International Civil Aviation Organisation.

Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker had earlier said that the ongoing Gulf crisis had left lasting wounds in the minds of people which would take a long time to heal.

And now, Qatar’s foreign minister HE Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani has warned that it would take a ‘lot of time’ to rebuild any trust between sparring Gulf countries because of the region’s continuing diplomatic crisis, reported Gulf Times.

“Qatar has always been one of the founders of the GCC organisation and we still consider that this has a great importance for all of us in the region. This organisation has been built on a strategical security and been built on trust. Unfortunately, what happened lately with this crisis, this factor is missing now and need s a lot of time to rebuild the trust again. We hope that it’s restored,” he said.

The blockading countries, namely Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the UAE had imposed a land, sea and air ban. However, a directive from the ICAO has since forced Bahrain and the UAE to provide safe passage corridors to planes from Qatar.  

The foreign minister said the conflict was unnecessary.

“Such a crisis isn’t needed in our region, we’ve enough problems and enough conflict. A region like the Gulf region, which was considered the most stable region in the Arab world is now destabilised because of a crisis without a solid foundation,” he was quoted as saying by The Peninsula.

However, he added that diplomatic efforts led by regional mediator Kuwait were continuing.

“We’ve received a letter from the Emir of Kuwait a few days ago. And this letter is a continuous effort to encourage the parties to engage in dialogue,” he said.

Despite this, Sheikh Mohamed said Qatar was still waiting to hear from its rivals.

“Put up your claims and put up your evidence. We told them (Saudi-led countries) anywhere you want, whatever evidence you’ve, just put it on the table. Now it’s been 72 days since the first day of their measures and we haven’t been provided with a single document,” Qatar Tribune quoted him as saying.