Publish date21 Feb 2020 - 13:55
Story Code : 452250

Qatar criticizes Riyadh for blocking minister from emergency meeting on Coronavirus

Doha has rebuked Saudi Arabia over hindering Qatari health minister from an emergency meeting of Persian Gulf states held in Riyadh to discuss concerns over coronavirus and regional efforts to confront the epidemic.
Qatar criticizes Riyadh for blocking minister from emergency meeting on Coronavirus
“Qatar expresses its concern that the Saudi authorities did not grant (Health Minister) Hanan Mohamed al-Kuwari permission to enter Riyadh and attend a meeting on coronavirus preventive measures organized by the (Persian) Gulf Cooperation Council... until the meeting had actually started,” Qatar's Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

The statement added, “Saudi Arabia has repeatedly claimed that the (P)GCC, especially the technical committees, have not been affected by the crisis. Yet we are surprised to see that (Riyadh) is politicizing a humanitarian sector.”

Nine cases of coronavirus have been detected in the United Arab Emirates. Two suspected cases in Qatar were later found not to be the virus, whilst Saudi Arabia has not reported any confirmed instances.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut off diplomatic ties with Qatar on June 5, 2017, after officially accusing it of “sponsoring terrorism.”

Libya, the Maldives, Djibouti, Senegal and the Comoros later joined the camp in ending diplomatic ties with Doha. Jordan downgraded its diplomatic relations as well.

Qatar's Foreign Ministry later announced that the decision to cut diplomatic ties was unjustified and based on false claims and assumptions.

On June 9, 2017, Qatar strongly dismissed allegations of supporting terrorism after the Saudi regime and its allies blacklisted dozens of individuals and entities purportedly associated with Doha.
 
Later that month, Saudi Arabia and its allies released a 13-point list of demands, including the closure of al-Jazeera television network and downgrade of relations with Iran, in return for the normalization of diplomatic relations with Doha.

The document also asked Qatar to sever all ties with the Muslim Brotherhood and the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement.

Qatar rejected the demands as "unreasonable."
 
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