Qatar seeks international arbitration to end economic blockade imposed by Arab Quartet

Doha, January 11: Amidst intensifying Gulf crisis, Qatar is now seeking international arbitration to end the economic blockade imposed by the Arab Quartet of Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

 

Notably, Qatar’s Ministry spokesperson Lulwah al-Khater on Wednesday made the announcement Qatar News Agency (QNA) of seeking international arbitration, days after a UN report said the Saudi-led blockade on Qatar is "arbitrary and negatively impacting the people of the region."

Spokesperson Lulwah al-Khater also said that the report of UN on Qatar blockade is satisfactory, comprehensive and has included important points. The spokesperson further noted the UN report proved that the Saudi-led blockade was only directed at Qatari government. She also added that Qatar is still hoping to resolve the crisis through dialogue and diplomatic channels.

Importantly, in the month of June this year, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Egypt and several other nations cut ties with Qatar and imposed stringent economic sanctions on it over supporting extremism. On the other side, Qatar denied all their allegations saying that they never supported Islamist militants and Shi'ite Iran.

Later, Saudi and its allies issued a 13-point list of demands to end the rift on June 22 and gave Qatar 10 days to comply. However, earlier Qatar rejected to fulfill the demands. The controversial Qatar World Cup will take place Nov. 21-Dec. 18 in 2022.