No one benefited from Gulf crisis and everyone a loser: Qatar Foreign Minister

New York: The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said that the lesson learnt from the Gulf crisis is that no difference can be resolved without negotiation. In an interview with the US Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) on the sidelines of the 7th Session of the UN General Assembly, the Minister said that the GCC countries have wasted a lot of time and great opportunities to work and cooperate during the crisis. Answering a question about the lesson that Qatar has learnt from the Gulf crisis, he said that no one has benefited from the Gulf crisis and that "everyone is a loser", stressing that no one won in the Gulf crisis and that the only success was in reconciliation. "We learned many lessons from the Gulf crisis, and we are not the only ones who learned them. The main lesson that will not be forgotten is not to resort to actions before dialogue," he continued. He called for building on this experience and the lessons learnt from the Gulf crisis, and for building a common security system to deter any aggression attempt from outside the region, stressing the importance of building a common ground and a common goal, and building a system that saves the Gulf region from any future crisis. On the mediation of Qatar in disputes, the Minister said, "We work as mediators for our interest and the interest of our security, wealth and prosperity. The region has witnessed one crisis after another during the last 70 years. If we remain passive and do nothing, I do not think that there are other players who will do anything."