Abadi says he opposes the Gulf isolation imposed on Qatar

Abadi says he opposes the Gulf isolation imposed on Qatar

Political Since 2017-06-13 at 19:32 (Baghdad time)

Baghdad Mawazine News
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Tuesday that his visit to Saudi Arabia, which was announced recently, has nothing to do with the Gulf crisis, while criticizing the internal and external "Voices" that it is trying to block Iraq's rapprochement with neighboring countries.
"I have been invited by Saudi Arabia for about a year and a half, and I have been preparing for it by visiting Saudi officials," Abadi told a weekly news conference attended by Mawazine News. "This visit has nothing to do with the Gulf crisis."
Abadi added that "when we try to move a step closer to the neighboring countries there are internal and external voices trying to block this convergence."
Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi said he was "opposed to the isolation imposed by Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries on Qatar because it harms ordinary citizens."
Abadi is to visit Saudi Arabia on Wednesday for talks with King Salman.
Abadi told reporters in Baghdad that the regimes are not affected by the embargo and that the embargo is hurting people.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other Arab countries have cut diplomatic ties and trade lines with Qatar, which has denied accusations by those countries of backing Islamic militants and Iran.
Abadi said he would seek clarifications from Saudi Arabia over the charges against Qatar.
Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Aziz will meet Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Wednesday in their second meeting this year as part of an effort to heal the rift between the two neighboring countries because of the Baghdad alliance with Iran, Riyadh's regional rival.
Reconciliation between the Sunni Arab kingdom and mainly Shi'ite Iraq has strengthened conditions in the Gulf region, with tensions rising significantly with Iran or between Gulf Arab states.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other Arab countries cut ties with Qatar last week. Doha denies accusations by these countries of backing Islamist militants and Iran.
A few days later, 17 people were killed in two attacks in Tehran that the Islamic state organization claimed responsibility for. Iran has accused Saudi Arabia of funding Islamic militants, including the Islamic state.
Al-Abbadi and King Salman will meet on Wednesday in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on the Red Sea, the London-based Arabic-language newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reported, quoting Thamer al-Sabhan, the Saudi minister of state for Gulf affairs.
An Iraqi government spokesman did not respond by telephone to ask for comment. Abadi was keen to distance Iraq from the dispute between Qatar and its neighbors.
On Sunday, newspapers angered Arab Gulf states that hundreds of millions of dollars paid by Qatar to Baghdad for the release of a group of members of the ruling family were hijacked in April and ended in Iran.
The royal family was kidnapped in 2015 in southern Iraq in an area controlled by Iranian-backed groups.
Tensions have risen after Iran, in close ties with Iraq's Shiites, has become one of the most important decision-makers in Iraq since US forces withdrew in 2011.
Tehran has been a key backer of Iraq's efforts to defeat a militant organization and provide military assistance to Shi'ite forces fighting Sunni militants who have declared an Islamic caliphate state in parts of Iraq and Syria in 2014.
King Salman and Abadi met last March on the sidelines of the Arab summit and in February Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir paid a rare visit to Baghdad.
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