Have you missed the most important political stories of this week on the GCC crisis? Scroll all the way down to get the updates on the latest developments in the ongoing Gulf crisis.
And here's what happened last week: GCC Crisis Updates Week 162
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MOCI) is perplexed by Saudi Arabia’s attempt to appeal the World Trade Organization (WTO) Panel’s Report. On 16 June 2020, the Panel unanimously found that Saudi Arabia has breached its obligations under the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement). Surprisingly, Saudi Arabia’s initial reaction to the Report was that it “fully vindicated” Saudi Arabia’s position and that it was “pleased with the outcome”. Today’s development tells a different story, demonstrating that Saudi Arabia fully understands that it lost the case. If Saudi Arabia had been “vindicated” and was genuinely “pleased with the outcome”, there would be nothing for it to appeal.
To recall, the WTO Panel Report found that Saudi Arabia failed to protect intellectual property (IP) rights by refusing to take action against, and instead actively promoting, the Saudi-based broadcast pirate “beoutQ”. The WTO Panel called on Saudi Arabia to stop its abuse of IP rights and “bring its measures into conformity” with WTO law. Read more HERE.
The U.S. continues to push for a solution in relation to the four-nation boycott of Qatar, even after the hospitalisation of Kuwait's ruling emir who led talks to resolve the GCC dispute, a US diplomat said Sunday, as reported by The New Arab.
The U.S. Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook acknowledged the challenge that has torn apart the Gulf Cooperation Council. As he said:
"The dispute has continued for too long and it ultimately harms our shared regional interests in stability, prosperity and security," Hook told reporters from Qatar after meeting with the Gulf state's foreign minister, according to Reuters.
"Bringing an end to this dispute really will advance the collective interests of all the parties to this conflict," Hook said.
“My expectation is that the role that Kuwait has been playing will continue,” Hook told journalists on a conference call after meeting Qatari officials in Doha.
“I’ve seen some steps backward over the last couple of years,” Hook said. “We’ve reached points where I think both sides were optimistic and we’ve reached points where both sides were pessimistic.
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