Doha, Nov 14 (AFP) Months into a dispute that has seenDoha cut off from Saudi Arabia and the UAE, Qatar's emir saidtoday his country was "a thousand times better off" withoutthem.
In a speech to the Shura Council, the upper house ofparliament, Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani said hisgovernment had nonetheless put in place contingency plans ashe expected the bitter political dispute with his neighboursand former allies to drag on.
"We do not fear the boycott of these countries againstus, we are a thousand times better off without them," the emirtold members of the council and foreign dignitaries in Doha.
"But vigilance is required," he added.
Sheikh Tamim nonetheless said his government was workingon "introducing a number of food security projects" and had"given special attention to water security" as it looked to afuture without its former Arab allies.
Iran, Turkey and most recently Spain have stepped in tohelp Qatar secure food imports amid a boycott by four Arabstates.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egyptin June announced they had severed ties with Qatar, sealingoff the emirate's only land border in the wide-rangingboycott.
They accuse Qatar's government of supporting Islamistextremism and fostering close ties with Iran.
Qatar denies the charges, claiming the dispute is anattack on its sovereignty.
Both parties in the crisis, the worst to grip the GulfCooperation Council in its 36-year history, have refused toback down despite mediation attempts by Kuwait and the UnitedStates.
Sheikh Tamim said his country also planned to holdelections for the Shura Council, whose 45 members arecurrently appointed by the emir.
The world's largest exporter of liquified natural gas,Qatar has claimed it can cope with the demands of the dispute,despite the boycott being put in place by former regionalallies and major trading partners.
Moody's has estimated that Qatar used USD 38.5 billion --equivalent to 23 per cent of its GDP -- to support the economyin the first two months of sanctions.
Qatar, which is scheduled to host the 2022 World Cup,insists that it is economically strong enough to survive thecrisis.
Doha this month said it was investigating an allegedattempt to manipulate its currency the Qatari riyal early onin the crisis by an international company partly owned byUnited Arab Emirates investors. (AFP)SMJ.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.