*'Normalising relations with a regime that does not respect the rights of its people is normalisation with war criminals'
HE the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani on Monday ruled out normalising relations with the Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad.
The reasons behind freezing Syria's membership in the Arab League still exist as the regime is still indifferent to what is happening to the Syrian people, he said.
“Normalising relations with a regime that does not respect the rights of its people is normalisation with war criminals,” Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman said.
He was speaking at a joint press conference with chairperson of the African Union Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat after the two sides signed an agreement under which Qatar will contribute $20mn to a fund, sponsored by the African Union, for covering the costs of repatriating irregular migrants in Libya back to their countries and reintegrating them in their communities.
The fund is set up in line with the directives of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani.
HE the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs praised the co-operation between Qatar and the African Union and said the fund will support the humanitarian and development work in the AU countries and will alleviate the difficult living conditions of the irregular African migrants.
He said Qatar and the African Union work together in many other fields such as the efforts exerted in achieving peace in the Darfur region in Sudan and exploring ways of finding solutions to other outstanding issues in the region. He called for concerted efforts to find lasting and sustainable solutions to the issue of irregular immigration and the reintegration of immigrants returning to their countries.
In response to a question on the prospects for solutions to the Gulf crisis in light of the visit of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Doha on Sunday, HE the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs said their talks covered the issue, adding Qatar continues to follow its principled position for dialogue that would restore the strength of the GCC, through unifying the Gulf system and highlighted the need for all parties to commit to the same.
Referring to the visit of Omani Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah, HE Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman said it was part of Oman's efforts to activate GCC committees which have been inactive due to the crisis. He reiterated Qatar's readiness to support the continuation of work in these committees despite the fact that the measures taken by the siege countries do not help joint work.
Qatar, he added, calls for the separation between the mechanisms of joint action and the differences that may arise between some GCC countries, while stressing continued support for such an approach and not disrupting any of the Council's mechanisms or its committees.
Mahamat meanwhile appreciated the initiative launched by Qatar to support and integrate African refugees in their original communities, which comes at a time when they face the most difficult suffering in conditions that are worsening by the day.
He said Qatar's efforts are a response to the violations faced by the African citizen at various levels.
