(MENAFN- The Peninsula) QNA
Oslo: Qatar's Foreign Minister H E Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said that the siege countries have not yet submitted, after 75 days of the blockade, any evidence supporting their accusations against Qatar supporting terrorism.
During a press conference held with Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende, the Foreign Minister said he had discussed with his Norwegian counterpart a number of issues, including the siege imposed on Qatar by three Gulf countries in coordination with Egypt, where these countries accused Qatar of several charges that they have not been able to prove any of them and did not provide any evidence.
The Foreign Minister expressed his thanks for Norway's position in support of Kuwaiti mediation, stressing at the same time that Qatar did not want to reciprocate the behaviour of the countries of the blockade, but chose the calm approach and avoided escalation of the situation in the region which could not tolerate further escalation. The Foreign Minister expressed the hope that the siege countries would follow Qatar's example and be more responsive to the Kuwaiti mediation.
H E Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said that the situation in Gaza, the Middle East and the peace process, as well as the situation in Libya, Syria, Yemen, Somalia and Afghanistan were also discussed. On Saudi Arabia's decision to allow Qatari Haj pilgrims to enter its territory to perform the pilgrimage, the Foreign Minister said that 'more than 100 people have entered Saudi Arabia so far, but the Saudi authorities have not yet responded to the demand of the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs in Qatar on the safety of the Qatari pilgrims, which means that the safety of those who exceed the Qatari borders to Saudi territories is the responsibility of the Saudi authorities, the Minister added.
The Foreign Minister said: 'Our relations with Saudi Arabia have never reached this level of crisis, a level of enacting a law in the Kingdom that prevents even sympathy with the State of Qatar under fines and imprisonment.
'This is why we are concerned about our people, especially in light of what the Saudi media is doing of spreading hatred against the people of Qatar, so we call on the Saudi authorities to respond to the demand of the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs and refrain from politicising the issue of the Haj pilgrimage, as it was prevented for political reasons, and now also permitted for political reasons, the Minister noted.
As for whether Saudi Arabia's move came as a result of Kuwaiti mediation or because of the mediation of Sheikh Abdullah bin Ali Al Thani, the Foreign Minister said: 'We have expressed two days ago in a message to the Emir of Kuwait H H Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah, our readiness to deal with the Kuwaiti mediation and our respect for it, but the four siege countries have not responded up to now. Rather, we have seen continuing escalation and attempt to market the accusation that Qatar supports terrorism without providing any evidence, until they reached a stage of despair to buy a few seconds in the Western channels to publish their advertisements, unfortunately this is their constant behaviour since the beginning of the crisis, the Foreign Minister added.
The Foreign Minister continued: 'Talk about permitting the entry of Qatari Haj pilgrims was as a result of mediation, this confirms that they are the ones who politicised the Haj pilgrimage. 'As for the visit of Sheikh Abdullah bin Ali and his meeting with the Saudi Crown Prince, it was for personal reasons, and we have no information about King Salman receiving him, he said.
H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said that allowing Qatari Haj pilgrims to perform their rites of pilgrimage as a result of mediation was part of series of conspiracies that have been waged against Qatar since the beginning of this crisis and a repeat of the history that has been repeated since 1996.
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