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'Dispelling causes of future disagreement is also important'

Diplomats recalled from Qatar ‘could return’: minister

MANAMA, October 8, 2014

Diplomats from Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE who were recalled from Qatar in March could return 'at any time', according to Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa.

The three countries withdrew their ambassadors from Doha amid a dispute with their GCC partner, which was blamed on Qatar's support of Islamist groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

Gulf officials say they want Qatar to end financial and political support for the Brotherhood, which has been declared a terrorist organisation by Saudi Arabia.

Qatar's awarding of citizenship to Bahrainis has also provoked anger in Manama, Bahrain.

While Shaikh Khalid said no date had been set for the return of diplomats to Qatar, he reportedly told an interviewer 'this could happen at any time now'.

“But dispelling the causes of future disagreement is also important,” he added.

“We must overcome them and not give the impression that, from time to time, we take discordant or premature steps.”

He made the comment in an interview originally published in the pan-Arab Al Hayat newspaper on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York, which was later translated by the Al Monitor news portal.

“Qatar is part of the GCC and our relations extend to various fields,” Shaikh Khalid is quoted as saying.

“But there are contentious issues that must be laid to rest.

“Among them is the fact that Saudi Arabia and the UAE disagreed, and still do, about the need to withdraw ambassadors from Doha.

“We hope, God willing, that all the causes that led to this disagreement disappear in the near future and things return to normal.”

In the interview, Shaikh Khalid also said proposals for a Gulf Union remained on the agenda, despite a lack of support from Oman.

“We hope that all objections be overcome in the future,” he said.

Meanwhile, closer to home, he said Bahrain had adopted mechanisms to prevent human rights violations by security forces and said he was looking forward to a visit by Amnesty International.

He also contested claims that Bahrain had rounded up large numbers of political prisoners.

“There are a small number of political prisoners who received fair trials, were sentenced and imprisoned as a result of them conspiring to overthrow the state,” he said.

“Their number is small and limited.”

He added that criminals behind violence on the streets and attacks on security forces could not be considered political prisoners.

“Most of those are young people who were arrested and brought before the courts,” he said.

“We do not consider them to be political prisoners because those who terrorise people in the street cannot be characterised as political prisoners.”

The minister also spoke about the crisis in Iraq, Libya, Yemen and Syria and how Bahrain played a key role in fighting the Islamic State militants by joining the US-led air strikes last month. - TradeArabia News Service




Tags: Bahrain | Qatar | UAE | Saudi | recall | Return | Diplomat |

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