Dr. Khalid Al Shafi, Editor-in-Chief of The Peninsula, and Dr. Hassan Al Ansari, Editor-In-Chief of Qatar Tribune, in the "Truth" talk show on Qatar TV on Friday night.
The hosting of the meeting in Cairo by the siege countries shows three things; rejection of Kuwaiti mediation by siege countries, leveling more accusations against Qatar and accusing Qatar of revealing the list of demands public, said Dr. Khalid Al Shafi, Editor-in-Chief of The Peninsula while talking in "Truth" talk show on Qatar TV on Friday night. The official who leaked the list of demands was from UAE, he added.
Replying to a question about why the Foreign Ministers of the siege countries' in Cairo did not focus on reducing ties with Iran or on Al Jazeera issue, Al Shafi said, "They forgot to mention these issues due to the US President Trump's call to President of Egypt and that was why they had changed the statement twice."
He added that, "the reason why the siege countries don’t want to make direct negotiations with Qatar is the fact that they don’t have anything to discuss and don’t have evidences for their allegations, otherwise Qatar from the beginning of the crisis has welcomed negotiations and Kuwait's initiative."
About Kuwaiti mediation, he said, "Qatar welcomes the Kuwaiti mediation, and the Kuwaitis political analysts were annoyed because the siege countries were not respecting the Kuwaiti mediation. Otherwise why the foreign ministers of siege countries held their press conference in Egypt?" He questioned whether Egypt was among GCC countries while the siege countries were insisting that the crisis must be solved among the GCC framework."
“I am also sorry about Saudi policy, its policy has become fragile and it is not like before when it was strong and taking decisions after thorough study,” he said.
Al Shafi also said that the siege countries had failed to put pressure on African Union. H H the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani had received a telephone call from the President of Guinea, Alpha Conde, the current president of the African Union and the President had welcomed the Kuwaiti mediation.
About the solidarity of Qatari people with the leadership, he said: “In Qatar there is no difference between people and leadership; you can see His Highness everywhere in public places. He is like father, brother to us. Qataris also understand that these siege countries have just allegations, and Qatar is ready to apologies if it has made any mistake to brother countries but they have not provided any evidence”.
For his side, Dr. Hassan Al Ansari, Editor-In-Chief of Qatar Tribune said that the siege countries were thinking that Qataris would not be able to bear the blockade because they were used to of living a luxurious life . "They don’t know Qataris. Even if the blockade lasts for a longer period of time, they will not surrender."
“If the siege countries believe in freedom of choice, then why they are punishing their people to show sympathy with Qatar,” Al Ansari said.
Replying to a question whether the crisis was an international subject or just an internal issue of GCC countries, Al Ansari said that the Gulf crisis was an international issue and was not limited to the Gulf only because all the countries had interests in Gulf. "Otherwise why we have seen German minister visiting these countries and others are also paying visits to the Gulf to resolve the crisis."
About accusations that Qatar supports terrorism, Al Ansari said that the terrorism topic could not be discussed among these counties because it was an international issue.
Commenting on the issue how the media of the siege countries was dealing with the crisis, Dr Al Shafi noted that the media in Qatar was dealing in a respectful way and not hurling abuses. "And, we also listen to the media of siege countries. There is no comparison between media of two sides because they shut down our media outlets and are abusing us."
He added that even "Truth" talk show of Qatar TV had annoyed them and they had dubbed its guests as "hired agents" and not Qataris but "everyone knows that all guests of talk show are prominent Qataris".
“What benefit Saudi government will get even if it succeeds in persuading its people that the blockade of Qatari brothers is right? Now they are exploiting Imams of mosques because they know that Saudi are religious people,” Al Shafi said.
