*VIENNA: Saudi Arabia has no interest in participating in a EuropeanUnion-style regional security alliance as proposed by Qatar, its ForeignMinister Adel al-Jubeir said on Monday.*

Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani said on Friday that MiddleEastern states should put their differences behind them and forge asecurity pact modeled on the European Union in order to pull the regionback from the brink.

He asked the international community to keep up diplomatic pressure on thecountries concerned to achieve that, but offered few other details.

“We already have a structure in place,” said al-Jubeir in Vienna on thesidelines of a meeting with his Austrian counterpart, referring to the GulfCooperation Council (GCC), the Gulf states’ 36-year-old political andtrading bloc.

Qatar, a tiny but rich Gulf Arab state, has been isolated over the pastseven months by trade and travel sanctions imposed by Saudi Arabia, theUnited Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt over accusations – denied by Doha –that it supports terrorism and regional rival Iran.

Efforts by the United States and Kuwait to end the rift have failed toproduce any results.

“It is our hope that the Qataris will do the right thing and stop theirsupport for terrorism… Should they do so, they will become a welcome memberof the GCC and we can move forward to improve the security for all of us,”al-Jubeir said. – Agencies