DUBAI (Reuters) - Qatar said it was banning products originating from the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Bahrain, almost a year after those states imposed an embargo on Doha, accusing it of supporting terrorism.

FILE PHOTO: A woman shops in a supermarket in Doha, Qatar June 7, 2017. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo

“Products originating from the blockading states, which as a result of the blockade cannot pass the Gulf Cooperation Council Customs Territory, have to undergo proper import inspections and customs procedures,” a government statement said late on Saturday.

“To protect the safety of consumers in the State of Qatar and to combat improper trafficking of goods, the government issued a directive to find new suppliers of the variety of goods impacted.”

The national Al Watan newspaper quoted a circular from the Ministry of Economy and Commerce telling traders and shops to stop dealing in products imported from the four countries. It said inspectors would monitor compliance with the policy.

The four states cut diplomatic and transport ties last June. Qatar, which had many of its imports trans-shipped from the UAE and received the bulk of its fresh food across the Saudi border, denied the accusations against it.

Imports into Qatar plunged about 40 percent from a year earlier in the initial weeks of the boycott, but they have since mostly returned to normal as Doha has found new sources of products in countries such as Turkey, and developed new shipping routes through places such as Oman. Qatar has also launched a drive to produce more things locally, including foods.

Since last June, some foods and other products from the embargo states have continued to find their way into Qatar through third countries.

A spokesman for Qatar’s government declined to give details but said any imports coming to the country must go through proper import inspections.

He was not immediately able to give the value of the goods affected by the new measures, and whether the ban would cover all products trans-shipped through the embargo states in addition to goods produced there.

Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed al-Khalifa told Alsharq Alawsat newspaper on Sunday he saw no resolution to the diplomatic row in sight.</s>Qatar on Saturday asked its shops to remove goods from four countries that severed diplomatic relations with them last June, AFP reported. Inspectors will visit stores to ensure compliance with the order, the economy ministry said.

The Government Communications Office said it was trying to “protect the safety of consumers” by banning products from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt – the first four countries to cut ties with Qatar on June 5, 2017. They had accused Doha of financing terrorist groups, charges that Qatar denies. Some other Arab nations joined in the boycott soon after.

The standoff had forced Qatar to shift import routes to Kuwait and Oman, and buy goods from Iran and Turkey, according to Bloomberg.

The government’s directive on Saturday is meant to “find new suppliers of the variety of goods impacted” by the blockade, a statement said. The government will try and stop products such as Saudi dairy goods from entering Qatar through a third country.</s>Qatar directed shopkeepers to clear their stores of contraband goods from Saudi Arabia and other neighboring countries, the latest salvo in the economic battle among former Middle East allies that shows no signs of easing.

The directive on Saturday came as the June 5 anniversary approaches of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates severing diplomatic and business ties with Qatar, accusing the tiny but wealthy emirate of promoting extremism in the region and cozying up to Iran. Denying the charges, Qatar...</s>QATAR said it was banning products originating from the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Bahrain, almost a year after those states imposed an embargo on Doha, accusing it of supporting terrorism.

"Products originating from the blockading states, which as a result of the blockade cannot pass the Gulf Cooperation Council Customs Territory, have to undergo proper import inspections and customs procedures," a government statement said late on Saturday.

"To protect the safety of consumers in the State of Qatar and to combat improper trafficking of goods, the government issued a directive to find new suppliers of the variety of goods impacted."

The national Al Watan newspaper quoted a circular from the Ministry of Economy and Commerce telling traders and shops to stop dealing in products imported from the four countries. It said inspectors would monitor compliance with the policy.

The four states cut diplomatic and transport ties last June. Qatar, which had many of its imports transshipped from the UAE and received the bulk of its fresh food across the Saudi border, denied the accusations against it.

Imports into Qatar plunged about 40 per cent from a year earlier in the initial weeks of the boycott, but they have since mostly returned to normal as Doha has found new sources of products in countries such as Turkey, and developed new shipping routes through places such as Oman. Qatar has also launched a drive to produce more things locally, including foods.

Since last June, some foods and other products from the embargo states have continued to find their way into Qatar through third countries.

Bahrain's Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed al-Khalifa told Alsharq Alawsat newspaper on Sunday he saw no resolution to the diplomatic row in sight. REUTERS</s>DUBAI Qatar said it was banning products from the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Bahrain, almost a year after the four states imposed an embargo on Doha, accusing it of supporting terrorism.

Qatar, which had many of its imports trans-shipped from the UAE and received the bulk of its fresh food across the Saudi border, denied the accusation.

On the product ban, a government statement said on Saturday: "Products originating from the blockading states, which as a result of the blockade cannot pass the Gulf Cooperation Council Customs Territory, have to undergo proper import inspections and customs procedures.

"To protect the safety of consumers in the state of Qatar and to combat improper trafficking of goods, the government issued a directive to find new suppliers of the variety of goods impacted."

The national Al Watan newspaper quoted a circular from the Ministry of Economy and Commerce telling traders and shops to stop dealing in products from the four countries. It said inspectors would monitor compliance with the policy.

The four states cut diplomatic and transport ties last June.

A spokesman for Qatar's government did not respond to e-mailed questions on the volume of goods that would be affected by the new ban.

Bahrain's Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid Ahmed al-Khalifa told Alsharq Alawsat newspaper he saw no resolution to the diplomatic row in sight.</s>RIYADH: Bahrain sees no resolution in sight to a diplomatic row between Qatar and its neighbors, which cut diplomatic and trade ties with the tiny Gulf Arab state nearly a year ago.

 “The information in our hands today does not indicate any glimmer of hope for a solution now, as the matter does not happen suddenly,” Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed al-Khalifa told Alsharq Alawsat newspaper on Sunday.

 Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Egypt severed travel and trade ties with Qatar last June, alleging it was backing Iran and supporting terrorism. Qatar denies this and says the boycott is an attempt to impinge on its sovereignty and rein in its support for reform.

 After initially disrupting Qatar’s imports and triggering the withdrawal of billions of dollars from its banks by depositors from the four states, the world’s top exporter of liquefied natural gas quickly developed new trade routes and deployed tens of billions of dollars from its sovereign wealth fund to protect its domestic lenders.

 The dispute has evaded mediation attempts by Kuwait and Washington, which has strong alliances with both sides and fears the split among Sunni Muslim US allies could benefit Iran in a decades-old tussle for influence in the Middle East.

 Bahrain’s foreign minister said Qatar was prolonging the crisis by taking its case to Western allies, instead of dealing with it inside the Gulf Arab bloc.

 “We were expecting from the beginning of the crisis with Qatar that the emir of Qatar would go to Saudi (Arabia) but this did not happen,” he told the pan-Arab newspaper.

 Saudi and UAE officials have said that Doha has yet to meet 13 demands made by the four states, including closing the state-funded Al Jazeera television station and reducing ties to Iran.

 UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash said last week on Twitter that Qatar had not dealt wisely with those demands: “Perhaps the passing of a year of the boycott will produce a new thought and a wiser approach from Doha”.</s>Almost a year after Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut ties with Qatar, the gas-rich country decided to stop consuming goods from its rivals. Qatar’s economy ministry ordered shops to strip shelves of products imported from the four countries, according to a circular sent on Saturday. Inspectors will visit stores to insure compliance with the ban. A spokesman for the economy ministry didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Saudi Arabia, the U.A.E., Bahrain and Egypt cut economic and diplomatic ties with Qatar on June 5, accusing the country of financing terrorist groups and having close ties with Iran, charges Qatar rejects. The rift forced Qatar to shift import routes to Kuwait and Oman, and buy goods from Iran and Turkey. Qatar, which has one of the world’s biggest sovereign wealth funds, absorbed the shock of the embargo. The economy expanded faster than most of its neighbors last year and is expected to outperform this year, according to International Monetary Fund data.

After shoring up ties in Western capitals and spending billions on weapons, Qatar plans to retool its economy to attract foreign investment and build a financial hub for companies in Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Pakistan.</s>Baku. 5 June. REPORT.AZ/ Residents of Qatar are hastily buying food and drinking water amid the rupture of diplomatic relations with number of countries. Report informsnews portal Youm7 writes."Residents rushed to all nearby grocery stores and supermarkets, buy up milk, water, rice, eggs.

Products are taken from stores by cars, the shelve are immediately emptied after the news about the closure of the borders with Saudi Arabia, through which a large flow of food was going, "eyewitnesses reported.According to them, "nothing like this has ever been seen."

According to the Al Jazeera TV channel, in the area of the Saudi-Qatar border, heavy trucks are accumulated that can not enter the territory of Qatar.

Notably, today, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt cut diplomatic ties with Qatar and moved to close off access to the Gulf country over what they say is the country's support of terrorism.After them, Yemen, Libya and the Maldives also announced the break of diplomatic relations with Qatar.</s>Qatar has ordered shops to remove goods originating from a group of Saudi Arabian-led countries which a year ago imposed a wide-ranging boycott on the emirate, Doha officials said Saturday. A directive from the economy ministry ordered shops to immediately strip shelves of products from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt.

Inspectors will visit stores to ensure they comply with the order, the ministry said.

The government will also try and stop products such as Saudi dairy goods from entering Qatar via a third country.

Qatar’s Government Communications Office (GCO) said it was trying to “protect the safety of consumers”.

“Products originating from blockading states, which as a result of the blockade cannot pass the GCC customs territory, has to undergo proper import inspections and customs procedures,” the GCO said in a statement.

“Qatar conducts its trade policy in accordance with all of its multilateral and bilateral agreements.”

The order comes just days before the anniversary of a bitter Gulf crisis.

Since June 5 last year, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt have cut all relations with Qatar, accusing it of financing terrorist groups and having close ties with Iran.

The countries subsequently imposed a trade and diplomatic boycott on Qatar, which rejects the charges and says the countries are seeking regime change in Doha.

The row has forced isolated Qatar, which previously relied on its Gulf neighbours, to look elsewhere for food imports, including Turkey, Morocco and Iran.

Many such imports enter the country via ports such as Kuwait and Oman.

It is through these ports, and also via individuals, that goods from the boycotting countries manage to get in to Qatar, said a source with knowledge of the situation.

“Businessmen from the blockading countries are trying to go around the blockade… by using third parties,” said the source.</s>WASHINGTON: A fundraiser for US President Donald Trump on Thursday added several defendants to a lawsuit claiming the Persian Gulf state of Qatar hacked his email accounts and shared the contents with news organizations.

Elliott Broidy, whose access to Trump has been the subject of press coverage in the United States in recent months, sued Qatar in federal court in Los Angeles in March.

On Thursday, he filed an amended complaint adding as defendants the brother of the Qatari ruler and Ahmed al-Rumaihi, a former head of investments at the Qatari sovereign wealth fund. In the complaint, Broidy said he was targeted over his vocal opposition to Qatar as part of efforts orchestrated by Mohammed bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, a younger brother of Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and al-Rumaihi to shift US policy toward the Gulf nation.

Khalifa Al Thani could not be reached for comment.

A spokesperson for Sports Trinity, a company in which al-Rumaihi is a principal, called the allegations by Broidy meritless, noting that al-Rumaihi was not an employee of the Qatar government during the time covered in the lawsuit.

“The complaint promotes false and misleading descriptions of Mr Al-Rumaihi,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

The United Arab Emirates, a regional rival of Qatar, has contracts with Broidy’s private security businesses worth more than $200 million, Broidy disclosed in his lawsuit.

Last year, Broidy sought to set up an informal meeting between Trump and senior UAE official Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Reuters has reported, citing a person familiar with the matter.

In his lawsuit, Broidy said Qatar has sought to use the hacked emails to generate negative press coverage and stop him from speaking out against Qatar.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut off travel and trade ties with Qatar last June, accusing it of backing their arch-rival Iran and supporting terrorism. Qatar denies the charges and says the boycott is an attempt to impinge on its sovereignty and rein in its support for reform.

Broidy’s lawsuit faces an uphill battle because Qatar has sovereign immunity and some of the people involved also may claim immunity, legal experts have said.

Jassim Al-Thani, a spokesman at Qatar’s embassy in Washington, said on Thursday the lawsuit was an attempt by Broidy to divert attention from media scrutiny of his activities.

“The facts show it was Mr Broidy who conspired in the shadows against Qatar – not the other way around,” al-Thani said in an email.

Earlier this month, a spokesman for Sport Trinity, a company owned by former Qatari official al-Rumaihi, confirmed that Trump’s longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen requested a $1 million fee from Qatar to advise Qatar on investments in US infrastructure.

Cohen, who is under investigation by federal prosecutors in New York for his business dealings, also has represented Broidy, for whom he arranged a $1.6 million payment to a Playboy model to keep secret a relationship, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters last month.

In Broidy’s amended complaint, he also accuses a New York-based former CIA agent, Kevin Chalker, and a former British intelligence operative, David Mark Powell, of helping to coordinate the hacks of his and his wife’s emails.

Chalker, the founder of Global Risk Advisors, and Powell, who runs the company’s Qatar operations, did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.
Qatar orders its traders and shops to stop dealing in products imported from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain.