Qatar says Gulf Arab bloc needs reform to give it teeth

Qatar said on Saturday it remained committed to
the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) but the bloc needed to enforce its own rules
better, signaling a reformed alliance could help end a row between Doha and
some of its neighbors.
Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman
al-Thani said Qatar was still counting on Kuwait and other regional powers to
help solve the row that has seen Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates,
Bahrain and non-GCC member Egypt impose a political and economic boycott on
Doha since June 2017.
“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 four states accuse Qatar of supporting
terrorism and cozying up to regional foe Iran. Doha denies the charges and says
the boycott aims to curtail its sovereignty.
The dispute has eluded mediation efforts by
Kuwait, which along with Oman is a part of the GCC, and the United States,
which believes Gulf unity is essential to containing Iran.
In a sign the dispute still festered, Qatar’s emir
did not attend an annual Gulf summit on Sunday. Doha earlier announced it was
quitting OPEC to focus on gas in a move seen as a shot at the oil exporter
club’s de facto ruler Saudi Arabia.
“In the Gulf crisis our position remains unchanged
- lifting the blockade and settling the differences via dialogue,” Qatari Emir
Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani told the forum.