Qatar on Sunday announced it was establishing a committee to pursue compensation claims potentially worth billions of dollars over the country’s “blockade” by four Arab countries.

Attorney General Ali bin Fetais al-Marri said the Compensation Claims Committee would deal with cases including major companies, such as Qatar Airways, and individual Qatari students who have been expelled from the countries where they were studying.

“This committee will receive all claims, whether from the public sector, private sector or individuals,” Marri told journalists at a press conference in Doha.

Potential plaintiffs such as Qatar Airways, banks or individuals will be able to file claims over what Doha has labeled a “siege” in courts at home and abroad, including in Paris and London, Marri said.

On June 5, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt announced they had cut all ties with Qatar, accusing Doha of supporting Islamist extremists.

Source: Agencies