Quartet condemns UN report on Qatar boycott as 'unfounded'

The four Arab countries insist Qatar is steering international organisations to defend Doha's interference in its neighbours' affairs

The UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt have condemned a report on Qatar by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights as "misleading and inaccurate".

The quartet said the report published earlier this month failed to grasp the nature of the political crisis between the four countries and Doha.

A failure to place the rift in context led the UN inspectors, who visited Qatar in November, to report a biased interpretation of the political standoff, which began on June 5.

The four countries, which cut relations with Qatar last year over its support of terrorism, said the boycott is aimed at defending their national security as stipulated by the UN charter.

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Although the boycott is within their rights, the quartet is not targeting the Qatari people, whom they "have a deeply rooted brotherly, tribal and fraternal bond" said a statement issued by state news agency Wam.

The four countries expressed their rejection of the report which, they said, included "unfounded allegations and accusations that fly in the face of reason and truth".

Denouncing the claims made by the UN agency, which was leaked by Qatar during a news conference, the quartet said the report was intended to reinforce Doha’s media campaign against the boycotting countries.

Despite the efforts exerted by Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmed, the Emir of Kuwait and chief mediator in the crisis, the quartet said that Qatar continues to show that it has "no true and honest intention over the short run to bring ties to the normal course".