Qatari FM Says Siege Countries Plotted Regime Change

“This is not new,” he said, adding that “the same thing happened in 2014 and 1996”, Middle East Monitor reported.

Al Thani stressed that “This aggression was launched when Qatar began to adopt new changes – carrying out a different strategy and pursuing a different vision.”

Speaking in Paris on Qatar’s view about regional issues in a seminar organised by the International Diplomacy Academy, the Qatari Minister stated that “The siege countries [Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain and Egypt] do not accept different views or different systems. At the same time, we refuse to concede our sovereignty.”

“We build our diplomacy based on our principles. We think our region needs a consistent security strategy that enables people to coexist peacefully with each other,” he said.

As for his own country, Qatar, Al Thani added that “The basic principle in our diplomacy is that people are not subject to any political bargaining. When there is an issue between the government and the people, we stand beside the people.”