I did read it. Did you? I also took the time to check other media outlets and embassy pages. Although a poorly worded article, it does state clearly that no changes on Qatar's side for the 33 countries has taken place. It also states, albeit less clearly in the passage you quoted, that 'SOME of the above countries' have reciprocal agreements, while noting that this does not include the US and UK. This does NOT mean that ONLY the UK and US do not have reciprocal agreements. Such an interpretation is ridiculous. It means that the US and the UK are two of the countries that do not have reciprocal agreements. SOME of the 33 countries (such as South Korea) already had reciprocal agreements in place, and that is why they are one of the 33 counties on the visa-on-arrival list.
No country that I know of has changed its policy as a result of all of this. Certainly Canada, France, Germany and other EU countries that posters have been discussing on QL have not. As I and host of others have already stated, these countries are highly unlikely to change their policies as a result of what Qatar does (and they have not). And to think these governments even could change their policies so quickly shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the slow pace of western democratic governments (for better and for worse). Any such change would require months and months of negotiations and treaties.
deepb,
I did read it. Did you? I also took the time to check other media outlets and embassy pages. Although a poorly worded article, it does state clearly that no changes on Qatar's side for the 33 countries has taken place. It also states, albeit less clearly in the passage you quoted, that 'SOME of the above countries' have reciprocal agreements, while noting that this does not include the US and UK. This does NOT mean that ONLY the UK and US do not have reciprocal agreements. Such an interpretation is ridiculous. It means that the US and the UK are two of the countries that do not have reciprocal agreements. SOME of the 33 countries (such as South Korea) already had reciprocal agreements in place, and that is why they are one of the 33 counties on the visa-on-arrival list.
No country that I know of has changed its policy as a result of all of this. Certainly Canada, France, Germany and other EU countries that posters have been discussing on QL have not. As I and host of others have already stated, these countries are highly unlikely to change their policies as a result of what Qatar does (and they have not). And to think these governments even could change their policies so quickly shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the slow pace of western democratic governments (for better and for worse). Any such change would require months and months of negotiations and treaties.