King Salman urged to take the lead in resolving crisis

His Highness the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani has managed the current crisis with wisdom, calm and great efficiency taking care of all the needs of the people in the country, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani, former Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, said in an interview with Qatar TV on Wednesday.

Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim talked about his experience throughout his long political career spanning more than 20 years with special focus on the relationships among the GCC countries and the demands made of Qatar by the Saudi-led bloc. He said Qatar always enjoyed a special relationship with Saudi Arabia and used to have excellent relations with the UAE. In addition, Qatar has worked closely with Saudi Arabia to resolve the problems in Bahrain. He also highly appreciated the efforts of the Emir of Kuwait to resolve the current GCC crisis. Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim expressed his fears that the crisis would weigh on the very existence of the GCC. He stressed that GCC countries should focus more on improving the lives of their peoples and encourage them to be united rather than using technology to slander others.Accordingly, he called on King Salman of Saudi Arabia to take the initiative to end the rift between the brotherly nations. Commenting on the campaign against Qatar in the West by some GCC countries, he said that would only make the world undermine the region while "they make it a business to collect money ". He said the GCC countries have to deal with each other as entities and countries and not as individuals. Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim emphasised that countries cannot be assessed by their size though he admitted that Saudi Arabia is considered the big brother among Arab nations. However, in spite of all the negative consequences of the crisis, it has produced the best of Qatar and encouraged its younger generation to further develop and improve their potential.

The interview with Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani can be seen on Qatar TV social media accounts:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2EJXBsWR_5BTCy6R4kIO3A

https://www.instagram.com/qatartelevision/

https://twitter.com/QatarTelevision