Qatar FM says GCC has 'no teeth'
DOHA 16 Dec (ANA) - Qatar has said it is committed to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) but that the bloc needed to enforce its own rules, signalling that a reformed alliance could help end the Gulf crisis.
Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said on Saturday that Qatar was still counting on Kuwait and regional powers to help end the crisis.
"We believe that we are more relevant as a bloc" for the West than as separate and fragmented countries, he told the annual Doha Forum, but said the GCC had "no teeth" and needed a dispute resolution mechanism.
"They have mechanisms in place and never trigger them [to hold people accountable] because some countries believe they are non-binding, so we need to make sure all the rules we are submitting to are binding to everyone in this region."
The remarks come amid an ongoing blockade on Qatar imposed in June 2017, by Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Egypt.(ANA)
FA/ANA/16 December 2018-------