Former minister slams Qatar press for misquoting

Manama : Former minister Dr. Ali Fakhro yesterday slammed Qatari press for fabricating his statements on the prevailing Qatar crisis.

Dr. Fakhro’s clarification came after Qatari newspapers misquoted him saying that he demanded to lift the “blockade” on Qatar and that “forcing Egypt into the issue is a distortion of the truth”.

Published on Friday, the reports misquoted Dr. Fakhro’s interview with Quds Press, claiming that he called for dialogue within the GCC without the involvement of foreign parties including Egypt.

Dr. Ali Fakhro, who held the posts of Education Minister and Health Minister for three decades, said the Qatari press falsified his statements.

Denying that he referred to the crisis as a “blockade”, Dr. Ali Fakhro said that the published statements were false and that he particularly said Qatar committed many mistakes, insisting “the solution to the crisis should be made within the GCC”.

The former official appreciated in his statements the mediation of the Kuwaiti Emir Shaikh Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah to solve the diplomatic crisis between Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt on one side and Qatar on the other side.

The Qatari press was criticised by Bahraini and fellow GCC citizens on social media networks for continuing to falsify facts to serve the stances of its government.