Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, on the sidelines of his China visit, said that Qatar's policies on sponsoring terrorist organizations have harmed the region, caused a lot of damage, and the shedding of innocent blood.
Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt consequentially cut ties with Qatar in June 2017, accusing it of fueling regional unrest and supporting terrorism and rapprochement with Iran.
A year into the quartet’s boycott, all diplomatic efforts led by Kuwait and supported by Western powers failed to resolve the dispute after Doha refused to implement a list of 13 demands, which included ending its support for the Muslim Brotherhood, closing Al Jazeera channel, closing a Turkish military base and rolling back its relations with Iran.
In an interview with Chinese Arabic-speaking satellite channel CGTN, Shoukry stressed the four Arab countries, which cut ties with the oil-rich state of Qatar, insist on their stance towards Doha so long it persists adopting the same approach.
The Egyptian foreign minister stressed that in the event of a change in the Qatari policy and Doha cutting support of terrorism and attempts to destabilize the region, a breakthrough will happen and things will return to normal.
Should Qatar uphold its detrimental policy, the four countries will continue their position.
Shoukry pointed to the shortcoming in direct negotiations with Qatar, or expected to announce its readiness to cooperate with the four countries and show a new political will to change.
Egypt’s top diplomat had kickstarted a two-day visit to China last Saturday, during which he met Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan, Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
