Qatar FM: Saudi Arabia is our strategic depth

Qatari Foreign Minister Khalid bin Mohammed Al-Attiyah, Saturday categorically denied any differences with Saudi Arabia over the Syrian crisis, but stressed that the two Gulf countries have a strong coordination over the issue."There is no difference between Qatar and Saudi Arabia over Syria.On Syria, we have the highest coordination with our colleagues in Friends of Syria and mainly Saudi Arabia. This is a fact," he told the Brussels Forum here this evening."Good relations with Saudi Arabia is strategic importance for Qatar. Saudi Arabia is our strategic depth," he underlined.Al-Attiyah said that from the Belgian capital he will be "rushing to Kuwait" to attend the Arab ministerial meeting tomorrow ahead of the Arab summit next week.He noted that that Arab summit agenda in Kuwait has three items. The first is the Middle East Peace process, the second reform of the Arab League and third the Syria crisis.He said that "Qatar has been playing a very positive role in international affairs. We are the largest exporter of energy to the world so we want to keep our area as stable as we can. We have to have a very stable flow of energy to the world." "We have an humanitarian obligation to the world and this is where we stood up and supported the Arab Spring. The situation will settle down", he said citing the experiences in many European countries which underwent revolutions and at the end of the day they settled down.He said that one third of our population is youth" so in Qatar we have to take care of them and provide them a decent life." Al Attiyah said "we always advise our colleagues in the Arab world to solve the issues through dialogue and this is what we are trying to tell our colleagues in the (Gulf Cooperation Council), GCC that dialogue is the best way." "Let me assure you about one thing. In the GCC no matter what you do the social fabric of the GCC people does overwhelm all GCC countries," he underlined.Citing as an example of this social cohesion in the GCC, he said somebody may have a nephew in Kuwait, a cousin in Bahrain, an uncle in Saudi Arabia and grandfather in UAE or Oman. "The GCC fabric will override all misunderstandings," he said.Brussels Forum is an annual conference on transatlantic relations organized by the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) and attended by heads of state, officials from the EU institutions and member states, US officials, congressional representatives, parliamentarians, and academics.