Saudi Gazette report
Riyadh — Kuwait is trying to calm the crisis resulting from the severing of diplomatic ties by eight countries with Qatar over its support of terror groups and Iran.
The Saudi Council of Ministers said late Monday evening that the Kingdom has taken the decision to cut ties with Qatar due to grave violations committed by the authorities in Doha overtly and covertly throughout the previous years aiming to strike a wedge in Saudi domestic ranks, instigating people to disobey the State and breach its sovereignty by securing safe havens for numerous terrorist and sectarian groups targeting the stability of the region.
US President Donald Trump said in a tweet on Tuesday that Middle Eastern leaders complained about Qatar when he demanded an end to support for radical ideology that encourages terrorism.
“During my recent trip to the Middle East I stated that there can no longer be funding of radical ideology. Leaders pointed to Qatar - look!,” Trump tweeted.
Economy badly hit
In a sign of the potential consequences for the Qatari economy, a number of banks in the region began stepping back from business dealings with Qatar.
Oil prices also fell on concern that the crisis would undermine efforts by OPEC to tighten production.
Massive queues were seen in many supermarkets in Doha.
Shoppers piled trollies and baskets high and shelves were stripped of essentials such as milk, rice and chicken.
“An estimated 40 percent of all of Qatar’s food supplies are transported across Qatar’s land border with Saudi Arabia,” said Anthony Skinner of the UK-based global risk consultancy Verisk Maplecroft.
Its closure “will force the Qatari authorities to increasingly rely on sea and air freight, thereby increasing costs,” Skinner said in a report.
Qatar’s only viable alternative for food imports is via Iran and the Gulf state of Oman by sea, and via Turkey, Europe and south Asia by air.
The head of Iran’s agricultural products export union on Monday said Tehran was ready to fend off potential food shortages with exports to Qatar by sea.
Some Saudi Arabian and UAE commercial banks were also shunning Qatari banks, holding off on letters of credit, banking sources told Reuters on Tuesday.
Credibility dented
The United States, Russia, France, Iran and Turkey offered to media and resolve the crisis through dialogue.
The United Arab Emirates said Qatar needed to carry out specific confidence-building measures and change its behavior.
“After previous experiences with the brother state, we need a frame for the future that will consolidate the security and the stability of the region,” UAE Foreign Minister Anwar Gargash wrote on Twitter overnight.
“We need to rebuild trust after broken pledges, we need a guaranteed roadmap,” he wrote.
But Qatari state TV broadcast images of Sheikh Tamim embracing the Muslim Brotherhood’s leader Sheikh Youssef Al-Qaradawi. — With agencies
