Stockholm: Qatar welcomes the opening of the Saudi-Qatari border enabling Qataris to go on pilgrimage to Mecca, even if the move is politically-motivated, Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said on Thursday.


"Despite the fact it`s been politically-motivated to ban the Qatari people from haj and politically that they allow them ... we welcome such a step, which is a step forward to get rid of this blockade which is imposed against my country," Sheikh Mohammed told a news conference on a visit to Sweden.