The Prime Minister and Foreign Minister H E Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabor Al Thani and German Chancellor Angela Merkel at a joint press conference in Berlin yesterday.
DOHA: Qatar yesterday rejected criticism that it was getting closer to the Muslim Brotherhood, saying its interaction with the Brotherhood was restricted to the governments they lead in Egypt and Tunisia.
The people in those countries have voted the Brotherhood to power and Qatar had absolutely no role to play in those elections, said the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, H E Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabor Al Thani.
Qatar supports the people of these countries and they have elected their governments. “So we are dealing with these governments. We are not dealing with any individual or group.”
The Premier was addressing a news conference jointly with the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, in Berlin, yesterday. He is leading a delegation of elite Qatari businessmen who were there to attend a conference on investment.
Fielding questions that some neighbouring countries were accusing Qatar of getting closer to the Brotherhood, the Premier said: “We are aware of such accusations and we are tackling the propaganda with wisdom. We know why such propaganda is being spread”.
“We didn’t bring the Brotherhood to power,” the PM said talking of Egypt.
“Qatar has been supporting Egypt and its people from much before the Brotherhood rode to power.”
Asked about accusations being hurled by Syrian President Bashar Al Assad that Qatar was backing Syrian rebels to destabilise the country, the PM said that was partly true and partly not.
Qatar had tried to convince Damascus early in the uprising to consider reforms but met “obstruction by Assad and the belief that there could only be a military solution”, the Prime Minister said.
“Our goal is to help the Syrian people realise their wishes and aspirations,” he said, adding that Merkel had echoed this view in their detailed discussion of the two-year-old conflict in which the United Nations estimates 70,000 people have died.
“We began supporting the rebels in Syria after the promises of Al Assad for political reforms proved hollow. He didn’t take any steps towards reform after the uprising and rather began resorting to the use of military to crush the uprising.
“I myself went to Damascus twice after the uprising. The regime was dilly-dallying on the issue of reforms.”
Qatar changed its stance vis-à-vis the Syrian crisis after it found that the regime was reluctant to introduce reforms.
“We can’t call it attempts at destabilisation. We just want to make sure that the Syrian people get their due. They get their rights.” The PM said, aside from the Syrian issue, Iran’s nuclear programme came up for threadbare discussion with Merkel. The Iranian issue needs to be solved through diplomatic means, use of force is in no one’s interest, said the PM.
He told reporters that more than 100,000 people had perished in Syria with the country being in a shambles.
The crisis there must end with immediate effect ensuing that the Syrian people’s aspirations are fulfilled, said the PM.
He called on the international community to play an active role and help the people of Syria get justice.
The PM denied that there was any talk of a military pact between him and Merkel and said cooperation between the two sides was discussed in areas such as politics, economy, education and health, Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported.
AGENCIES
