Qatar foreign minister denounces ‘unfair’, ‘illegal’ sanctions

Earlier in the day, Johnson met with the Qatari Foreign Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani. He said he had been consulted in advance by nations that “spoke to me about confronting Qatar”, a country he said historically has been a “funder of terrorism at a very high level”. He added that most of the names on the list had no real link to Qatar, adding that numerous individuals mentioned had never visited the country.

Amid ongoing Middle East Crisis, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif along Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Qamar Bajwa left for an official visit to Saudi Arabia today, reported Waqt News.

U.S. President Donald Trump initially offered to host Qatar and its adversaries – all U.S. allies – at the White House, but on Friday said Qatar has been a high-level sponsor of terrorism and backed the Gulf pressure.

That ransom payment, believed to have gone to Shiite militias holding the Qataris in Iraq, has sparked anger among those now trying to isolate it. Egypt has asked the United Nations Security Council to investigate reports that Qatar “paid up to $1 billion” to free the hostages, saying such a payment would violate U.N. sanctions. The Arab states blocked direct flights with Qatar and all except Bahrain barred Qatari flights from using their airspace.

He said millions of Pakistanis were working in Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar and other gulf countries, but due to drop in oil market, gulf countries were already facing macro-economic instability.

This comes after Qatar appeared Sunday to be ready to listen to the concerns of Gulf Arab states that cut ties.

India’s foreign ministry said Saturday that “all parties should resolve their differences through a process of constructive dialogue and peaceful negotiations”.

In a related development, the on-going diplomatic row between has been condemned by world leaders with the United States and Russian Federation calling for dialogue while also offering to mediate in the matter.

“Qatar Airways continues to operate to the rest of its network as per its published schedules with day-to-day adjustments for operational and commercial efficiencies”, he said, without elaborating further. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian is scheduled to talk Monday with his Qatari counterpart. Last week, a Qatari woman was forced to hand her two-year-old son to her Saudi husband across the border after Saudi authorities said she could not enter, Sultan Qahtani, a Qatari police major, told Reuters in his office.

Qatar’s neighbors cut ties with the country over accusations that it sponsors Islamic extremism, which Qatar denies. Qatar has begun shipping cargo through Oman to bypass the blockade and show it can survive the diplomatic row with its neighbours.

Qatar’s Hamad Port is 420 nautical miles from Sohar Port and 1,131 nautical miles from Salalah.