Geneva - Information Office – 15 September
HE the Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani has described the partnership between the State of Qatar and the United State of America as "very strong".
In an interview with Swiss newspaper (Le Temps), HE the Minister said that the State of Qatar hosts the biggest US military base outside America as well as the headquarters of the International Coalition against ISIS, adding that the two countries also cooperate in the fields of security, counterterrorism, defense and economy.
HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani stressed that the lesson learned by the State of Qatar from the unjust siege is to reduce its dependence on its immediate neighbors, pointing out to Qatar's commercial openness to many countries.
"The siege countries accuse us of spreading lies about the telephone conversation that took place between HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. And That is unacceptable," he said explaining that the siege crisis was not expected and there were no indications of its occurrence. He pointed out that a few days before the beginning of the crisis, Saudi Arabia was a very strong ally of the State of Qatar, adding that everything that had happened was orchestrated to justify the siege, and that it concerned a group of countries whose actions could not be predicted.
HE the Foreign Minister said that the GCC countries' consensus is necessary to ensure that Gulf security is not jeopardized, despite the differences of views on a number of issues.
He also explained that the siege countries do not want a rational exchange of arguments. "They want to put us under guardianship," he said adding "We are a sovereign country. We have the same rights as Saudi Arabia, regardless of the size or strength of our country".
Responding to a question on the relations with Iran, HE the Foreign Minister said that from the beginning, the State of Qatar has been defending the idea of overcoming differences with Iran through dialogue rather than confrontation.
On the other hand, HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said that the Arab peoples revolted against dictatorships, "We had to move when these dictatorships started killing their own people". He explained that the State of Qatar has tried to assist these regimes to make some reforms, "But when these attempts failed and the dictators began to kill their people, we had to take a side, and we chose the people," he said.
The peoples of these countries are the ones who ignited the revolutions of the Arab Spring and not Qatar, he stressed adding that "these peoples deserve appreciation for this achievement."
He also pointed out that the peoples of the Arab Spring countries believed in the possibility of reaching peaceful solutions, and there was no terrorism at that time, explaining that the violence started when these peoples were subject to the brutality of the regimes. He pointed out that the terrorist organizations benefited from this situation in strengthening their forces.
On Qatar's relations with the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), HE the Foreign Minister said that "the countries that accuse us of supporting what they call a terrorist movement are the same countries that support Hamas." He pointed out that any assistance to the people of Gaza is welcomed because the people of Gaza desperately need it.
He said that Qatar, along with several countries, has a joint operation room working for moderate groups in Syria. "We still believe in the realism of the hopes placed in the Free Syrian Army or the reorganization of moderate forces," he said.
He also pointed out that there is an international commitment in this regard, but part of the international community now focuses on the fight against ISIS, and no longer speaks about the regime of Bashar Al-Assad, which killed more than 500 thousand people.
HE the Foreign Minister said that the solution to the Idlib issue lies in re-establishing the moderate opposition and providing it with more aids, adding that it was the lack of support for the moderate opposition that allowed the Nusra Front to strengthen its influence.