Says no steps to be taken against foreign nationals;
six Iran planes with food reach Qatar
DOHA: Qatar moved Sunday to avoid an escalation of its feud with Gulf by telling their citizens they are welcome to stay, while boasting of "business as usual" for vital gas exports.
Qatar said late Saturday it would not retaliate with such measures of its own. A statement carried on Qatari state media said Doha would "not take any measures against residents of Qatar who hold the nationalities of countries that severed diplomatic ties ... on the back of hostile and tendentiouscampaigns against the country".
The decision will come as a relief to the more than 11,000 people from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain living in Qatar. Concerns have been raised for the impact of these measures on people who live in all the countries affected. Saudi Arabia said Sunday it was ordering "suitable measures" to help families with mixed citizenships but provided few details.
Despite the unprecedented sanctions, Qatar says that its crucial exports of liquified gas have not been interrupted. "Qatar Petroleum ... is conducting business as usual throughout all its upstream, midstream and downstream businesses and operations, and in all activities across all of QP´s world-class facilities," a statement read.
While fear and uncertainty began to engulf crisis-ridden Qatar, Iran has sent six planes of food exports, including fruit and vegetables, to the embattled nation, which is now facing a land, air and sea blockade imposed by its neighbours for one week.
Giving details of the Iranian gesture, the Doha-based “Al-Jazeera” television states: “Each aircraft carried around 90 tonnes of cargo, "while another plane will be sent today," Iran Air spokesman Shahrokh Noushabadi told AFP news agency Sunday. Three ships loaded with 350 tonnes of food were also set to leave an Iranian port for Qatar, the Tasnim news agency quoted a local official as saying. Food imports were affected after Saudi Arabia ordered closure of Qatar's only land border. Qatar, which relies heavily on food imports, assured residents it has taken measures to ensure that normal life continues.”
Gulf countries announce hotline for mixed Qatari families: The “Al-Jazeera” reports: “Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, which have cut ties with Qatar, announced via state media Sunday the creation of hotlines to help families with Qatari members. The statements carried by their official news agencies did not specify what services the hotline would provide. The moves against Qatar include a land, air and sea blockade, as well as a ban on Qatari citizens from entering the three countries. Qatari nationals were also ordered to leave within 14 days, leaving hundreds of mixed-citizenship Qatari couples with the grim prospect of being split from their families.”
Qatar’s state-owned media outlet asserts: “Amnesty International criticised the measures as sweeping and arbitrary and said they had split up families and destroyed peoples' livelihoods and education. Qatar’s National Human Rights Committee has also said the Saudi-led move went far beyond a simple diplomatic dispute and will break up families and disrupt young people’s education.”
The “Washington Post” quoted the Amnesty International as viewing: “These drastic measures are already having a brutal effect, splitting children from parents and husbands from wives,” said James Lynch, deputy director of the group’s global issues program. “People from across the region — not only from Qatar, but also from the states implementing these measures — risk losing jobs and having their education disrupted.”
The “BBC” has more to say: “Iran has also opened its airspace to Qatari flights, following airspace closures by Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. Analysts say Qatar's positive relations with Shia-led Iran — Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia's arch-rival for influence in the region — were one of the causes of the latest rift, and the latest shipments are unlikely to ease the tension. Kuwait has taken on the role of mediator, last week sending its emir to Saudi Arabia. On Sunday, Kuwait's Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Khalid al-Sabah said Qatar was ready "to understand the reality of the qualms and concerns of their brothers and to heed the noble endeavours to enhance security and stability.” UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash tweeted: "Is this the beginning of wisdom and reasonable thinking? I hope so."
Qatar separately said it would not retaliate with similar measures after Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE last week ordered all Qatari citizens to leave within 14 days. Some 11,000 people from the three nations are believed to be in Qatar.
The premier British media house has gone on to write: “Qatar has hired former US attorney general John Ashcroft to fight its corner in the international arena. The FIFA President, Gianni Infantino, said he was confident the "region will return to a normal situation" and the current crisis would not affect the staging of football's World Cup in Qatar in 2022. Qatar's overseer of charities, the Regulatory Authority for Charitable Activities, denied any involvement in funding militants, saying it "deplores the accusation that Qatari humanitarian organizations support terrorism.”
The “Washington Post” writes: “It’s been a week since several Arab countries — led by Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt — severed ties and imposed an economic blockade on Qatar after they accused it of supporting terrorism. The mood in this waterside Persian Gulf capital is a mix of fear, uncertainty and resilience as residents struggle to cope with a political and diplomatic crisis few imagined would so dramatically upend their world. At several supermarkets, there were some shortages of foods imported from Saudi Arabia, such as milk and yogurt. But the panic-driven long lines and hoarding seen earlier in the week was gone. There were now milk and juice from Turkey, a key ally of Qatar, on the shelves, mitigating the lack of products from Saudi Arabia and the UAE.”
The prestigious American newspaper adds: “While some residents fear that war could erupt between Qatar and its neighbors, many Qataris were resilient, even defiant. Some patriotically placed Qatar’s flag in front of their houses, and there was a sense the diplomatic dispute could create long-term animosities.”