![Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry (C) reads a statement while giving a joint press conference with Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir (L), UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan (2nd-L), and Bahraini Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed al-Khalifa (3rd-R) after their meeting in the Egyptian capital Cairo on July 5th to discuss the Gulf diplomatic crisis with Qatar. [Khaled al-Fiqi/POOL/AFP]](/cnmi_am/images/2017/07/17/8808-qatar-uae-crisis-700_496.webp)
The UAE warned Qatar on Monday (July 17th) it could not belong to the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) if it undermined regional security, calling for a "change of behaviour" but not "regime change", AFP reported.
The Gulf states accuse Qatar of ties to Iran and of funding extremist groups.
Qatar has denied the accusations.
"We have sent a message to Qatar. We have said we are not there to escalate. We are not after regime change. We are after a change of behaviour," said UAE state minister for foreign affairs Anwar Gargash.
"We need to do that and when we do that, come back to the fold and we can work together," he added.
Gargash said there was a broader problem with financing for extremists in the Gulf but that countries like Saudi Arabia were "dealing with it".
Regarding the possibility of Qatar being excluded from the GCC, Gargash said: "The GCC is in crisis and I do not think it serves our purposes to say let us take Qatar out."
"What we really do want is we either reach an agreement and Qatar's behaviour changes, or Qatar makes its own bed and they can move on and we can move with a new relationship. But we cannot have a member who is undermining us and supporting extremism," he said.
We won't cooperate with any Arab or European country that tries to destabilize the Arab region. We are Arabs and united. I want to say that when Arabs cooperate and unite, this won't be in European countries' interest. Qatar has always tried to [gibberish], thinking that this will please the Europeans. However, they take their interest and then dump Qatar!
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This is terror! There is no justice!
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The problem is that any escalation against the treacherous regime will be paid for by the Qatari people who have nothing to do with whats' happening. They're our brothers, and therefore, I'm against escalation. I hope Qatar will respond to the Gulf call. O, Qatar, you have nobody but your folk!
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Disagreements and boycotts will only serve the enemies of our nation and are not in the interests of brothers in the Gulf. As to Egypt, it is a big question mark!!! May God guide us all!
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From the very beginning, this was an arbitrary behaviour from the four countries and it doesn't serve the region.
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It’s crystal clear that Qatar takes on the causes of vulnerable peoples and that it’s supporting the Palestinian people. I wonder: what wrong has Qatar done? If states rise up against Qatar and boycott it, we’ll see peoples will support Qatar and its brave stances.
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Qatar has proven that it's politically and economically strong.
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Qatar will stand on its feet, and will communicate with almost all world countries. This is 100% in Qatar's interest.
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The situation must be resolved.
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Arab countries must stand together against the terrorist groups and those who support them, whoever they are. They must also confront the traitors.
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