Saudi Arabia affirmed that the decision to sever diplomatic and consular relations with Qatar came out of the Kingdom's exercise of its sovereign rights guaranteed by international law and to protect its national security from the dangers of terrorism and extremism.
Saudi Arabia said in a lengthy report on the measures and humanitarian efforts undertaken by the Kingdom during the Qatari crisis, published by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), that the Kingdom has taken the decision to boycott due to serious violations by the authorities in Doha in secret and publicly, explaining that Qatar is practicing incitement Since 1995, the state has violated its sovereignty, embraced terrorist groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood, ISIS and al-Qaida, and promoted the literature and plans of these groups through their media permanently.
The Kingdom and its sister countries in the GCC have made strenuous and persistent efforts to urge the authorities in Doha to abide by their commitments and to abide by the agreements.However, Qatar has consistently reneged on its international obligations and has not complied with the commitments it signed in the Riyadh Agreement in 2013.
She noted that after the GCC countries had exhausted their political and diplomatic efforts, the Emir of Qatar reneged on his pledge to stop the negative policy, which led to the withdrawal of ambassadors and not return them only after the signing of the supplementary agreement in 2014.
She pointed out that Qatar has violated the agreements signed under the umbrella of the Gulf Cooperation Council states, working to split the Saudi internal rank, incitement to exit the state, and prejudice its sovereignty, and embrace multiple terrorist and sectarian groups, aimed at destabilizing the region, which led to the countries The four decided to boycott it to protect its national security.
She pointed out that regardless of the hostile practices committed by the authorities in Doha, the Kingdom will continue to support the brotherly Qatari people and support their security and stability.
In this regard, Saudi Arabia has taken the necessary measures to address the humanitarian cases of Saudis and Qatari brothers affected by this decision, most notably the issuance of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Order No. 43522 to form a committee to take into account the humanitarian cases of joint families headed by the Ministry of Interior and membership of the competent authorities.
The Ministry of Interior has also assigned officially announced phone numbers to receive and process reports on these cases in a timely manner.
Regarding the alleged criminalization of sympathy for Qatar, which includes the Kingdom's imposition of prison sentences of up to five years, and a fine of up to three million riyals in the case of sympathy with Qatar, the statement said: "This is not true, the Kingdom's regulations guarantee freedom of opinion and expression to everyone Or transgression on public order, society, its members or its constants. ” The Kingdom's laws guarantee freedom of opinion and expression for every human being, unless it infringes upon or violates the public order, society, individuals or constants, and this restriction has a legislative basis at the national level consistent with the relevant international standards, most notably in paragraph 2 of Article 29 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
It is noteworthy that Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt severed relations with Qatar in mid-2017, to support «terrorism».
• Riyadh: Regardless of the hostile practices perpetrated by the authorities in Doha, the Kingdom will continue to support the brotherly Qatari people and support their security and stability.