Stockholm — On Thursday, the Qatari foreign minister welcomed Saudi Arabia’s decision to re-open the two countries’ border to Muslim pilgrims — while lashing out at Riyadh’s "politicisation" of religious freedoms. "Regardless of the manner in which pilgrims from Qatar or living in Qatar were banned from the pilgrimage, which was politically motivated, and the manner in which they were subsequently permitted to make the pilgrimage, which was also politicised and which was announced with other goals in mind ... the government of Qatar welcomes the decision and will respond positively," foreign minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani told a press conference in Stockholm. "What matters to us is the bottom line, which is that our citizens now have a way to attend the Hajj, and we uphold our demand that the Hajj be spared politicisation and remain separate from our political issues," he said. Saudi Arabia has announced it will open the Salwa border crossing to Qatari pilgrims for the a...
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