The Parliament conducted an exclusive interview with Qatar’s Ambassador to Lebanon Mohamad Bin Hassan Jaber Al-Jaber.
During the interview, many regional issues, especially the thorny ones, were discussed; along with the role that Qatar plays in the Middle East. The following is the content of the interview:
Qatar’s International and Regional Relations
Day after day, Qatar’s international and regional relations tighten, due to the politics of openness that the country pursues under the wise rule of Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, the country’s prince.
The wide participation of more than 160 countries in the 140thGeneral Assembly meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, which Qatar is hosting these days, indicates the latest proof of the tightness and power of
Qatar’s international and regional relations.
Undoubtedly, these tight relations have a positive impact on Qatar’s politics in the Middle East, which revolve around advocating the issues of the people, and achieving their legitimate ambitions of freedom and dignity.
Qatar’s Stance on the Thorny Issues of the Middle East
Qatar is exerting efforts that contribute to the international community’s achievement of peace and stability in the Middle East, which has been witnessing consecutive wars for many decades, due to the Israeli-Arab conflict and the wars in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and Libya.
Furthermore, Qatar always placed the Palestinian issue as top priority, and it expressed through different regional and international platforms its strong and supportive stance towards the Palestinians and their legitimate right to an independent state on the 1967 borders, with Jerusalem as its capital.
Concerning Libya, which is currently witnessing a dangerous military escalation, Qatar rushed to call on all parties involved in the conflict to remember their historical responsibilities towards the Libyan people whose hopes rely on a peaceful resolution, and also to resort to national dialogue over military choices, along with placing the interests of Libya above small subsidiaries.
This stance is an extension of Qatar’s previous calls on all sides and sects of the Libyan people to achieve national reconciliation, to build the nation and its institutions, to put an end to the suffering of the Libyan people, and to ensure its safety and stability.
As for Yemen, since the beginning of the war, Qatar expressed its keenness on the stability, peace, and unity of the country, and it called on all sides to cease fighting and, instead, to resort to dialogue to solve the issue politically, based on related Security Council decisions, the Gulf’s initiatives, and the outputs of national dialogue.
Regarding Syria, Qatar maintained its conviction that Syria must remain a united country ever since the beginning of the conflict, and it supported many regional and international efforts to ensure the success of a political resolution that takes Syria out of its conflict, and which responds to the Syrians’ ambitions of freedom, justice, security, and stability, based on the Geneva Declaration.
The Dimensions of the Gulf blockade on Qatar and its Results
The Gulf is relying on fueling the crisis in order to confiscate Qatar’s sovereignty along with its freedom of expression. This was made clear from the list of demands that it put forth, which is unacceptable to us, and our sovereignty is a line that must not be crossed.
We have been, since the beginning, trying to solve the issue through a dialogue that is founded on mutual respect, and we supported the generous mediation of Kuwait’s prince, and we still strongly believe that a dialogue built on mutual respect can put an end to this conflict.
Qatar exceeded the effects of the blockade, its economic immunity was strengthened against foreign obstacles, its reliance on itself was fortified, and its ties with its allies is more stable now than it ever was.
For many years, Qatar put forth the principle of self-reliance and of economic openness as two strategic options when facing different regional and international challenges; and this direction contributed to consolidating local industries on one hand, and to strengthening Qatar’s status as pivotal in trade on the other hand.
2024. All rights reserved