Anti-Terror Quartet issue a joint statement on US-Qatar MoU

Qatar’s foreign minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani (R) and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson attend a joint news conference in Doha, Qatar, July 11, 2017. (Reuters)
Updated 11 July 2017
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Anti-Terror Quartet issue a joint statement on US-Qatar MoU

JEDDAH: The Anti-Terror Quartet (ATQ) — Saudi Arabia, Egypt, UAE and Bahrain — issued a joint statement in which they valued the US efforts in the fight against terror financing.

The statement reads:

The four countries value the efforts of the United States of America in the fight against terrorism and its financing and the full and solid partnership embodied in the Arab-Islamic-American Summit, which has established a firm international position to confront extremism and terrorism regardless of its source and origin.
The signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on Combating the Financing of Terrorism between the United States and the Qatari authorities is the result of the repeated pressures and demands over the past years by the four countries and their partners to stop its support for terrorism with the assertion that this step is not enough and that the four countries will closely monitor the seriousness of the authorities in its fight against all forms of terrorist financing, its support and embrace.
The four countries emphasize that the measures they have taken have been because of the continuation of various activities of the Qatari authorities in supporting and financing terrorism, harboring extremists, spreading hatred and extremism and interfering in the internal affairs of other countries. These activities must be fully and definitively stopped in implementation of the legitimate and just demands.
The Qatari authorities have consistently revoked all the agreements and commitments, the most recent of which was the Riyadh Agreement (2013), which led to the withdrawal of ambassadors and their return only after the Qatari authorities signed the supplementary agreement (2014) and their continued intervention, incitement, conspiracy, harboring of terrorists, financing terrorist acts and spreading hatred and extremism, with which it cannot be trusted in any commitment it makes according to its existing policy without the establishment of strict controls to verify the seriousness of its return to the normal and right track.
The four countries also reiterate the continuation of their current procedures until the Qatari authorities are committed to the implementation of the just and full demands that will ensure that terrorism is addressed and stability and security are established in the region.

 

— With input from SPA


Iraq majority bloc backs Nouri al-Maliki as next PM: statement

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Iraq majority bloc backs Nouri al-Maliki as next PM: statement

  • The Coordination Framework said that it “decided, by majority vote, to nominate” Al-Maliki for the position
  • The statement spoke of Al-Maliki’s “political and administrative experience and his record in running the state“

BAGHDAD: Iraq’s main Shiite alliance, which holds a parliamentary majority, endorsed on Saturday former prime minister and powerbroker Nouri Al-Maliki as the country’s next premier.
The Coordination Framework, an alliance of Shiite factions with varying links to Iran, said in a statement that it “decided, by majority vote, to nominate” Al-Maliki for the position “as the candidate of the largest parliamentary bloc.”
The statement spoke of Al-Maliki’s “political and administrative experience and his record in running the state.”
A shrewd politician, Al-Maliki, 75, has long been a central figure in Iraq’s politics and its only two-term prime minister (2006-2014) since the US invasion of 2003, which ended decades of rule by the autocratic Sunni president Saddam Hussein.
Since the invasion and by convention in Iraq, a Shiite Muslim holds the powerful post of prime minister, a Sunni is parliament speaker, and the largely ceremonial presidency goes to a Kurd. After Iraq’s November general election, the Coordination Framework, which includes Al-Maliki, formed the majority bloc.
Soon after, it held heated talks to choose the next prime minister, along with other discussions with Sunni and Kurdish parties regarding other posts.
Iraq’s parliament chose a speaker last month and should convene next to elect a new president, who will then appoint a prime minister to replace the incumbent Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani.
Al-Maliki, leader of the State of Law Coalition, remains influential in Iraqi politics despite his controversial past, including widespread accusations of corruption, stoking sectarian tensions, and failing to stop the Daesh group.