Doha launches WTO complaint against trade boycott

Reuters
A traditional dhow floats in the Corniche Bay of Doha, Qatar, with tall buildings of the financial district in the background. Qatar has filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization against four Arab countries that have launched a trade boycott against it. (AP Photo/Saurabh Das, File)

GENEVA: Qatar filed a wide-ranging legal complaint at the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Monday to challenge a trade boycott by 抖阴短视频, Bahrain and United Arab Emirates (UAE), the director of Qatar鈥檚 WTO office Ali Alwaleed Al-Thani told Reuters.
Qatar triggered a 60-day deadline for the Quartet to settle the complaint.
The Anti Terror Quartet cut ties with Qatar 鈥� a major global gas supplier and host to the biggest US military base in the Middle East 鈥� on June 5, accusing it of financing militant groups in Syria, and allying with Iran.
The Quartet have previously told the WTO that it would cite national security to justify its actions against Qatar. It said on Sunday it was ready for talks to tackle the dispute if Doha showed willingness to deal with their demands.
The complaints against 抖阴短视频 and the UAE run to eight pages each, while the document on Bahrain is six pages.
The WTO suit does not include Egypt, the fourth country involved in the boycott. Although it has also cut travel and diplomatic ties with Qatar, Egypt did not expel Qatari citizens or ask Egyptians to leave Qatar.
The trade restrictions include bans on trade through Qatar鈥檚 ports and travel by Qatari citizens, blockages of Qatari digital services and websites, closure of maritime borders and prohibition of flights operated by Qatari aircraft.
The complaint does not put a value on the trade boycott, and Al-Thani declined to estimate how much Qatar could seek in sanctions if the litigation ever reached that stage, which can take 2-5 years or longer in the WTO system.