Qatar’s foreign minister Thursday rejected interference in his country’s foreign policy, ruling out a military solution to a crisis which has seen Riyadh and its allies cut ties with Doha.

“No one has the right to intervene in our foreign policy,” Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said.

“We are an independent country with sovereignty,” he said, rejecting tutelage from other states.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain lead a string of countries that this week cut ties with Qatar over what they say is the emirate’s financing of Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood and its ties to Iran, Saudi Arabia’s regional arch-rival.

Qatar denies having any ties to extremists.

A top United Arab Emirates official on Wednesday told AFP that the unprecedented measures aim to pressure Doha into making drastic policy changes.

“This is not about regime change — this is about change of policy, change of approach,” state minister for foreign affairs Anwar Gargash said.

Analysts say the crisis is an extension of a pre-existing dispute which saw Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain temporarily recall their ambassadors from Doha in 2014 over Qatari support for Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood.

The emirate is still home to leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood, the Palestinian Hamas and Taliban.

Sheikh Mohammed called attempts to isolate Doha “collective punishment” and a “systematic campaign” against Qatar, which he said continued to work alongside the United States against extremism.

“Taliban representation here is done in coordination with the Americans,” he told AFP. “They are hosted here… for peace talks.”

more:   https://www.dailysabah.com/mideast/2017/06/08/no-country-has-the-right-to-intervene-in-qatar-foreign-policy-fm