QNA
Rome
The Middle East has moved from a bad situation to worse in the last decade due to its crises, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al Thani has said, while referring to the blockade of Qatar and the problems facing Lebanon, Syria, Libya and Yemen.
At a special session on the sidelines of the Mediterranean Dialogue Conference in Rome with journalists Declan Walsh, the New York Times correspondent from Cairo, and Middle East Editor David Hearst, Sheikh Mohammed said the situation in the Middle East needs to be addressed as soon as possible.
He said though a massive propaganda campaign was launched against Qatar, in time everyone realised this was not true. "The veil has been uncovered. The same methods were used against any country that opposed their policies, take Canada for example,” he added.
Responding to a question about social media and how it fanned tension in the region, the Deputy PM said that at the beginning of the crisis the misuse of social media, especially by the blockading states, was noticed, especially "with the propaganda campaign against our country, and against the Qatari people”.
"Trying to change the perception has shown that we have a society around us that does not understand how to practice freedom of speech. They didn’t calculate the damage against them and their reputation and their future. What has been done over the first few months of the blockade was very damaging to GCC reputation. Social media could have been put to a much better use for positive change and not negative change. To change the mentality of the people to open their hands and to encourage progressive thinking not towards hate speech,” he said.
On the war in Yemen, the Deputy PM said, "I have seen promises that the Yemen war was going to stop. We saw the US State Department’s statement about stopping operations of Hudaida. We need to see proper engagement among the Yemeni people; we don’t want to see external players taking advantage of the situation, and not see hope for a solution.”
The people of Yemen, he added, are paying the price.
"Any country with more than 20 percent of its people at risk of starvation is considered a disaster. In Yemen, 70 percent are at risk. It’s catastrophic. Not to mention the danger of the spread of diseases,” he said, adding that "the situation in Yemen needs a solution and we hope the international community would provide one.”
The Deputy PM said there is a dispute between the US and Iran and "for us it’s not a comfortable situation”.
"At the end, for us, it’s a different situation. If there is a way for Qatar to fix this situation, then it will. Qatar has been a mediator and a facilitator for many adversaries. At the end we want a stable region, a nuclear weapons-free region. We need to work on coexistence,” Sheikh Mohammed added.
Rome
The Middle East has moved from a bad situation to worse in the last decade due to its crises, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al Thani has said, while referring to the blockade of Qatar and the problems facing Lebanon, Syria, Libya and Yemen.
At a special session on the sidelines of the Mediterranean Dialogue Conference in Rome with journalists Declan Walsh, the New York Times correspondent from Cairo, and Middle East Editor David Hearst, Sheikh Mohammed said the situation in the Middle East needs to be addressed as soon as possible.
He said though a massive propaganda campaign was launched against Qatar, in time everyone realised this was not true. "The veil has been uncovered. The same methods were used against any country that opposed their policies, take Canada for example,” he added.
Responding to a question about social media and how it fanned tension in the region, the Deputy PM said that at the beginning of the crisis the misuse of social media, especially by the blockading states, was noticed, especially "with the propaganda campaign against our country, and against the Qatari people”.
"Trying to change the perception has shown that we have a society around us that does not understand how to practice freedom of speech. They didn’t calculate the damage against them and their reputation and their future. What has been done over the first few months of the blockade was very damaging to GCC reputation. Social media could have been put to a much better use for positive change and not negative change. To change the mentality of the people to open their hands and to encourage progressive thinking not towards hate speech,” he said.
On the war in Yemen, the Deputy PM said, "I have seen promises that the Yemen war was going to stop. We saw the US State Department’s statement about stopping operations of Hudaida. We need to see proper engagement among the Yemeni people; we don’t want to see external players taking advantage of the situation, and not see hope for a solution.”
The people of Yemen, he added, are paying the price.
"Any country with more than 20 percent of its people at risk of starvation is considered a disaster. In Yemen, 70 percent are at risk. It’s catastrophic. Not to mention the danger of the spread of diseases,” he said, adding that "the situation in Yemen needs a solution and we hope the international community would provide one.”
The Deputy PM said there is a dispute between the US and Iran and "for us it’s not a comfortable situation”.
"At the end, for us, it’s a different situation. If there is a way for Qatar to fix this situation, then it will. Qatar has been a mediator and a facilitator for many adversaries. At the end we want a stable region, a nuclear weapons-free region. We need to work on coexistence,” Sheikh Mohammed added.