Qatar accuses neighbours of terrorism hypocrisy as isolation continues
The country's finance minister points at the 9/11 attackers, from Saudi Arabia and the UAE, after claims it is soft on terrorism.
Tuesday 27 June 2017 20:09, UK
Qatar has stepped up its war of words with regional rivals as the crisis surrounding its isolation shows no sign of resolution three weeks on.
In an exclusive interview with Sky News, Qatar's Finance Minister Ali Sharif al Emadi effectively accused neighbouring countries of hypocrisy when it came to supporting terrorism.
He said: "Osama bin Laden is not Qatari, he's Saudi. People who hijacked the planes and bombed New York, 15 of them were not Qataris, they were Saudis and UAEs."
Referring to two Islamic State leaders, he added: "Baghdadi is not Qatari, he's a Jordanian; al Binali, who I think was assassinated a week or 10 days ago, was not Qatari, was Bahraini."
Qatar rejects allegations it is soft on terror.
Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt and others have subjected the small but rich Gulf kingdom to unprecedented diplomatic and economic isolation accusing it of supporting terrorist organisations and allowing terrorists to live there.
Mr al Emadi insisted Qatar follows international norms on who it lets live within its borders
He said: "Who decides which people are terrorists or not? In Qatar we adopt the United Nations list where we think that should be a reference to how we define terrorism in any countries."
The tougher rhetoric follows a hardening of position by Qatar's rivals. They have issued a list of demands to be met by a deadline early next week.
They want Al Jazeera television shut down, Turkish military forces thrown out of the country and the severing of relations with the Islamist organisation the Muslim Brotherhood.
The UAE has threated Qatar with expulsion from the Gulf Co-operation Council, the regional trading and economic cooperation bloc.
Mr al Emadi said Qatar was more than capable of existing outside the GCC but did not want to leave it.
He insisted the Qatari economy has already recovered from the impact of its isolation.
"We are still enjoying a double A rating despite all the challenges that we see," he said.
"We have more than 250% of our GDP in terms of sovereign wealth fund. This will be enough to defend our economy.
"But I think if you look at what we see in the markets today, the markets are almost back to normal levels."
Observers will be sceptical of his breezy confidence and bond markets do not seem to share it, with international Qatar bonds falling sharply in price, although losses on markets have recovered somewhat since the start of the crisis.
Qatar has insisted it has deep enough pockets to see this crisis through however long it takes.
"If push comes to shove I think Qatar really can sustain any economic shocks," Mr al Emadi said.
Many observers will assume such robust rhetoric is as much a negotiating stance as the hardline demands coming from the other side, ahead of efforts to negotiate a resolution to the crisis.
So far though there is no sign of such a process starting.