'Lot of time' needed to rebuild trust in Gulf, says Qatar

A "lot of time" is needed to rebuild any trust between sparring Gulf countries because of the region's continuing diplomatic crisis, Qatar's Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said on Tuesday.

The Qatari diplomatic chief said regional relations had been radically transformed by the dispute, as the impasse between Doha and four Arab states - led by Saudi Arabia - entered its eleventh week.

"Qatar has always been one of the founders of the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) organisation and we still consider that this has a great importance for all of us in the region," he told reporters.

Created in 1981, the GCC includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

"This organisation has been built on a strategical security and been built on trust." he said.

"Unfortunately, what happened lately with this crisis, this factor is missing now and needs a lot of time to rebuild the trust again... We hope that it's restored," he added.

Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt cut ties with Qatar in June after accusing Doha of backing extremist groups and fostering ties with Riyadh's regional rival Iran.

Doha has consistently denied the claims and accuses the other bloc of attempting an attack on its sovereignty.

The Saudi-led countries have also imposed sanctions including restrictions on Qatari aircraft using their airspace.

Agencies contributed to this report.