Quartet issues joint statement on Qatar

Manama : Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt issued the following statement: "The four countries value the efforts made by the United States to counter terrorism and to dry up sources of terror finance as well as the full-fledged robust partnership embodied in the Islamic-US Summit, which formed an international decisive position against extremism and terrorism, regardless of their sources and origin.

While the four countries believe that the Memorandum of Understanding between the US and the Qatari authorities a result of repeated pressures and demands over the past years to Qatar to stop supporting terrorism, they affirm that such a step is not sufficient and they will closely monitor the seriousness of Qatar in combating all forms of funding, supporting and fostering terrorism.

The Quartet affirms that the measures they have taken were motivated by the continuous and diversified activities of the Qatari authorities in supporting and funding terrorism, hosting terrorists, promoting hateful and extremist rhetoric and interfering in the internal affairs of other states. Qatar should completely and absolutely stop such activities and implement the fair and legitimate demands, in addition to any demands that the four countries may later announce, after the world knows about the insincerity of the Qatari authorities.

The Qatari authorities have negated all their agreements and commitments, including the Riyadh Agreement in 2013, which triggered the withdrawal of ambassadors from Doha. The ambassadors were reinstated only after Qatar signed the supplementary agreement in 2014. However, Doha has continued to meddle in the internal affairs of states and has incited, hosted and colluded with terrorists, funded terror operations and spread messages of hatred and extremism.

Consequently, the four countries cannot trust any commitments made by the Qatari authorities because of their existing policies without the establishment of strict controls to verify they are serious about returning to the normal and rightful course.
The four countries also affirm that the measures will remain in place until the Qatari authorities commit themselves to fully implement these fair demands, which seek to counter terrorism and achieve stability and security in the region.''