Qatar submits a complaint against boycotting countries

Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Angelino Alfano, will travel to Doha on Wednesday, 2 August, for an intense schedule of institutional meetings. In the morning, the Minister will meet with the Chief Executive Officer of the Qatar Investment Authority, Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammed Al Thani. Minister Alfano will subsequently meet with the President of Qatar Museums, Sheikha Mayassa bint Hamad Al Thani, and visit the Islamic Art Museum. 
The visit will continue with bilateral talks involving the Qatari Minister of Defense, Khalid bin Mohammad Al Attiyah, and the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani. The head of Italian diplomacy will then meet with his colleague, the Foreign Minister of Qatar,  Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.
The visit comes in the framework of the Qatari efforts to pressure the boycotting countries to ease the measures they took against the tiny Gulf state. Qatari Foreign Minister Mohamed Bin Abdel Rahman Al Thani conducted a number of phone calls with officials from the U.S, Germany and France calling them for intensifying their efforts to ease the current tensions between his country and its neighboring states.
Qatar filed a wide-ranging legal complaint at the World Trade Organization on Monday to challenge a trade boycott by Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and United Arab Emirates, the director of Qatar's WTO office Ali Alwaleed al-Thani told Reuters.
By formally "requesting consultations" with the three countries, the first step in a trade dispute, Qatar triggered a 60 day deadline for them to settle the complaint or face litigation at the WTO and potential retaliatory trade sanctions.
"We've given sufficient time to hear the legal explanations on how these measures are in compliance with their commitments, to no satisfactory result," al-Thani said. "We have always called for dialogue, for negotiations, and this is part of our strategy to talk to the members concerned and to gain more information on these measures, the legality of these measures, and to find a solution to resolve the dispute."
The boycotting states cut ties with Qatar - a major global gas supplier and host to the biggest U.S. military base in the Middle East - on June 5, accusing it of financing militant groups in Syria, and allying with Iran, their regional foe, allegations Doha denies.
The boycotting countries have previously told the WTO that they would cite national security to justify their actions against Qatar, using a controversial and almost unprecedented exemption allowed under the WTO rules.
They said on Sunday they were ready for talks to tackle the dispute, the worst rift between Gulf Arab states in years, if Doha showed willingness to deal with their demands. The text of Qatar's WTO complaint cites "coercive attempts at economic isolation" and spells out how they are impeding Qatar's rights in the trade in goods, trade in services and intellectual property.
The complaints against Saudi Arabia and the UAE run to eight pages each, while the document on Bahrain is six pages. There was no immediate reaction from the three to Qatar's complaint, which is likely to be circulated at the WTO later this week.