File photo: In this picture taken Friday, April 8, 2016, provided by the office of the Egyptian Presidency, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, right, stands with Saudi Arabia's King Salman in Cairo (AP)
Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain said in a joint statement on Wednesday that a speech given by Qatar's foreign minister on Tuesday at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva contained many "fallacies."
In the joint statement read by the UAE's permanent envoy to the UN Human Rights Council Obaid Salem Al Zaabi, the four Arab states described the speech by the Qatari minister as an attempt by Doha to frame the diplomatic row with its fellow Arab nations as a "major international crisis."
"We view that this minor political crisis between our countries and Qatar should be solved within the context of ongoing mediation by the Emir of Kuwait," the statement said, adding that "this mediation is the optimum channel to tackle the causes of this political crisis and its consequences."
In his speech in front of the UN Human Rights Council on Tuesday, Qatari FM Mohamed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani called on the UN organisation to end the "blockade" by the four Arab countries end its resulting "violations."
In June 2017, Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE severed diplomatic and transport ties with Qatar, accusing the country of supporting terrorist organisations, which Doha has denied.
Al Zaabi said in the statement that "our countries want Qatar to change its behaviour of supporting terrorist organisations and immediately end its funding of these organisations.Through this international platform, we ask Qatar not to make Doha a haven for individuals promoting terrorist acts."
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