Khalid bin Mohammed al-Attiyah, Qatari Minister of State for Defense.

:: Khalid bin Mohammed al-Attiyah, Qatari Minister of State for Defense, said Tuesday that what he refered to as a “siege” imposed on his country by the four countries (UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt) since June has made Qatar “much stronger than before”.

In this context, he contradicts a speech delivered by the Emir of Qatar at the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly held on 19 September stating that his country is “suffering under the seige”.

Suffering or strong?

The Qatari minister’s speech came during a lecture he gave on Tuesday at a private university in Qatar.

The minister stressed that Qatar has proved its ability to withstand the crisis, presenting a model in the strength of its economy, forgetting many economic reports and ratings that indicated the decline of Qatari economy during three months of the boycott.

The countries took a collective decision to boycott Qatar after several attempts to warn Doha of the consequences of supporting terrorist groups and undermine the stability of those States.

While Al Attiyah spoke about the “strength” of Doha and its economic power following the crisis, his country’s ambassador to Brussels Abdul Rahman bin Mohammed Al-Khulaifi said that the crisis has hindered several joint projects that would have been easy to accomplish with the Gulf countries.