Qatar says Gulf Arab bloc needs reform

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Qatar said on Saturday it remained committed to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) but the bloc needed to enforce its own rules better, signalling that a reformed alliance could help end the Gulf crisis.

Saudi Arabia and its allies have imposed a diplomatic and economic boycott of Qatar since June 2017, accusing it of getting close to their regional rival Iran and supporting terrorism.

During the annual Doha Forum on Saturday, Qatar's Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said Qatar was still counting on Kuwait and other regional powers to help solve the crisis. But he also stressed that the boycott had irreparably damaged the existing six-nation structure set up at the height of the Iran-Iraq war in 1981.

Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani delivers a speech during the opening session of the Doha Forum, Doha, Qatar, December 15, 2018. /VCG Photo

"We believe that we are more relevant as a bloc for those countries than we are separate and fragmented," he told the forum.

But he also said the GCC had "no teeth" and needed a dispute resolution mechanism and some redesigning of the alliance bloc so as to ensure future stability and security of the region.

Other members of the GCC have not yet responded to the call.

The comments came after Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani stayed away from the GCC's annual summit in Riyadh last Sunday despite receiving an invitation from its Saudi hosts.

(Top image: Qatar's Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani speaks during the opening session of the Doha Forum, December 15, 2018. /VCG Photo)