Anwar Gargash, foreign affairs minister of the United Arab Emirates, one of four Arab countries that have imposed sanctions on Qatar, on Saturday said that Doha needed to change its policies before a dialogue could take place.
Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt cut ties
with Qatar and had imposed an economic boycott in June, accusing it of
financing extremist groups and supporting terrorism, charges Doha has
repeatedly denied.
Gargash said a call for dialogue by Qatar’s emir
Sheikh Tamin bin Hamad al-Thani was welcome, but this could only happen
after Doha had made changes.
He did not specify these, but the four countries
involved have issued more than a dozen demands, telling Qatar to close
down Al Jazeera television, curb relations with Iran and shut down a
Turkish military base.
“Dialogue is necessary and needed but its backbone has to be revision,” Gargash said on his Twitter account.
He expressed disappointment with a speech that was
made by Sheikh Tamim on Friday, the first the emir had given since the
start of the crisis.
“I had hoped that the speech of Sheikh Tamim would be an initiative for revision,” Gargash said.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, an ally of Qatar,
will visit Saudia Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar during a two-day mediation
trip that begins on Sunday
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