Qatari sheikh calls for national meeting to end crisis

Sheikh Abdullah bin Al-Thani

JEDDAH: A member of the Qatari royal family has urged the people of Qatar to be “the messengers of peace” in the dispute with its Gulf neighbors. 
“To my family, the children, the businessmen, and all the people of Qatar. I invite you to meet to be messengers of wisdom and peace, and advocates for the uniting of the hearts,” Sheikh Abdullah bin Ali Al-Thani said on Sunday. 
Sheikh Abdullah said he felt pain at seeing the dispute going from bad to worse, and called for a meeting at Qatari national level to discuss a crisis “which we can no longer remain silent in.”
The dispute began in June, when the Anti-Terror Quartet comprising Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt severed diplomatic relations and imposed a trade and travel boycott over Qatar’s financing of terrorist groups and interference in its neighbors’ internal affairs. 
Sheikh Abdullah said the situation was deteriorating, and “pushing us to a fate we do not want to reach.”
He said King Salman of Saudi Arabia was committed to the safety of Qatar and its people. Sheikh Abdullah called on the people of Qatar to communicate with him and set a date for a national meeting.