Doha, June 8 (AP): Qatar's top diplomat struck a defiant tone today, saying no one gave Arab nations the right to "blockade" his energy-rich country, and that the campaign by Saudi Arabia and its allies to isolate Qatar is based on "false and fabricated news".
In a wide-ranging interview with The Associated Press, Qatari foreign minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani repeatedly denied his country funded extremists and rejected the idea of shutting down its Al-Jazeera news network.
He said Qatar as an independent nation also had the right to support groups like the Muslim Brotherhood, despite its neighbours outlawing the Sunni group.
Sheikh Mohammed's hard line mirrored that of a top Emirati diplomat who told the AP yesterday that the UAE believes "there's nothing to negotiate" with Qatar. Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, the UAE and other countries severed diplomatic ties with Qatar earlier this week and cut off air, sea and land travel to the peninsular nation.
Kuwait's emir is working to mediate the Gulf crisis around Qatar, which is home to a major US military base and the host of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
"If anyone thinks they are going to impose anything on my internal affairs or my internal issues, this is not going to happen," Sheikh Mohammed said.
Worried residents have responded to the crisis by emptying grocery stores in the Qatari capital, Doha, as Saudi Arabia has blocked trucks carrying food from entering the country across its only land border.
Its flag carrier Qatar Airways now flies increasingly over Iran and Turkey after being blocked elsewhere over West Asia. Emirati officials also shut down the airline's offices in the UAE yesterday.
President Donald Trump, who tweeted on Tuesday about Qatar funding extremists, called Qatari ruler Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani yesterday and offered to host leaders at the White House to resolve the crisis.
Today, Sheikh Mohammed said Sheikh Tamim "is not going to leave the country while the country is in blockade", in effect turning down the offer of mediation.
