Hope participation in Saudi drill could be a beginning to resolve crisis: Official

Doha: Lulwah Rashid Al Khater, the official spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry, expressed hope that Qatar’s participation in the “Joint Gulf Shield 1” Drill in Saudi Arabia could be a beginning towards solving the Gulf crisis.

Qatar is always welcome to the idea of dialogue and sitting at the negotiating table,Al Khater told Al Sharq.

She added: “We cannot predict the positions of the blockade countries. We have seen from the recent past that it is very difficult to predict their reaction or decisions, like what happened at the Gulf summit in Kuwait, where we expected the meet to be at the level of leaders, but we were surprised that these countries reduced their representation. To predict what they decide is difficult.”

Last week the Qatari armed forces have participated in the “Joint Gulf Shield 1” Drill in  Saudi Arabia.

The military drill was conducted in the town of Ras Al Khair, north of Jubail city in the eastern region of the kingdom, from March 21 to April 16, QNA quoted the defence ministry as saying.

A number of officers from the Qatari Armed Forces, led by Brigadier General Khamis Mohamed Deblan, participated in the exercise, along with land, sea and air forces from 25 other countries.

The exercise featured a number of stages, including a command centres drill and field training. It concluded with the implementation of the exercise of regular and non-regular fire with live ammunition, in addition to a military parade.

The participation aimed at strengthening brotherly relations, exchanging experiences and taking part in all that would preserve the security and stability of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and the Arab and Islamic region.

According to QNA, the closing ceremony was attended by the Qatar Armed Forces’ Chief of Staff, Major General Ghanem bin Shaheen al-Ghanem, at the invitation of his Saudi counterpart Lt General Fayyad bin Hamed al-Ruwayli.

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