Shura Council Praises Efforts of Wise Leadership, Cohesion of People after 1,000 Days of Unjust Blockade

02 March 2020




The Shura Council held its regular weekly meeting on Monday under the chairmanship of HE the Speaker Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Zaid Al Mahmoud.

After 1,000 days have elapsed since the unjust blockade imposed on Qatar, HE Al Mahmoud renewed, at the beginning of the meeting, the allegiance and loyalty to HH the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, affirmed the Council's pride in the efforts of His Highness to sustain development of the State of Qatar, protect its sovereignty and defend the dignity of its people and residents in the face of the unfair blockade, and appreciated His Highness's call to resolve this dispute through unconditional dialogue, respect for sovereignty and non-interference in internal affairs.

By the grace of Allah the Almighty, the wisdom and efforts of His Highness, and the awareness of the loyal Qatari people, their cohesion and unity behind their wise leadership and their collaboration with residents in Qatar, His Excellency said that the country after 1,000 days of blockade became more powerful and more capable of building and giving as the pace of development and the features of a comprehensive growth further enhanced in Qatar. He added that Qatar extended support to various regions of the world, and has been calling for good and peace, fighting terrorism and extremism, and helping the needy and the oppressed, as well as has been vigorously and firmly defending the right and Arab and Muslim issues not influenced by spiteful campaigns and false accusations. The unjust blockade will only increases unity behind the wise leadership and adherence to principles and defending the country's sovereignty and independence of its national decision, he added.

The Council continued its meeting, where HE Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Zaid Al Mahmoud briefed the members on his message to HE Minister of Public Health Dr. Hanan Mohammed Al Kuwari asking her to inform the Council of the precautionary measures being taken by the Ministry of Public Health and its affiliated bodies to address the risks of coronavirus (Covid-19) and the necessary preventive measures that the Ministry has taken to reduce its risks.

At the end of the meeting, a number of Council members addressed the Memorandum of Understanding that HE the Speaker of the Shura Council signed in New York with the United Nations, and stipulated that the Shura Council and the UN enter into direct arrangements to establish the Office of the UN Counter-Terrorism Program, which will be concerned with the parliamentary participation in preventing and combating terrorism. The office's headquarters will be in the State of Qatar and its activities will cover the parliaments of world countries.

The Doha-based Office of the UN Counter-Terrorism Program will provide technical assistance and training to world parliaments in order to build capacity of parliamentarians to better understand and respond to terrorism-related issues, support the implementation of major initiatives within the framework of the joint United Nations and Inter-Parliamentary Union program on the role of parliaments in countering terrorism and violent extremism leading to terrorism, and promote a balanced and integrated implementation of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy and related Security Council resolutions.

The Shura Council members hailed this as an achievement for the State of Qatar, and represents the best response to the false accusations and unfair campaigns that the country is facing under the pretext of supporting terrorism.

The members also emphasized that the hosting of the headquarters of this office in Doha confirms Qatar's prestigious status and the international community's confidence in it.