Arab states that have cut ties with Qatar yesterday began talks in Egypt to discuss their next move in the Gulf diplomatic crisis, after Doha said their demands were impossible to meet.
Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry welcomed his counterparts from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain for the talks at a ministry building in central Cairo, a month after the countries severed ties with Qatar, accusing Doha of supporting extremism.
Earlier yesterday, the Saudi foreign ministry said they had received Qatar’s response to their demands — which include Doha ending support for the Muslim Brotherhood and closing broadcaster al-Jazeera — and would respond “at the right time.”
Photo: AFP
Saudi Arabia and its allies have not said what steps they could take next, but there are fears of a wider embargo that would hurt the Qatari economy, with ratings agency Moody’s announcing it was changing Qatar’s outlook to negative over the crisis.
The countries issued the 13-point list of demands on June 22, giving Qatar 10 days to respond. The deadline was extended by 48 hours on Sunday at the request of Kuwait, which is mediating in the crisis, and Qatar handed in the response on Monday.
The contents of the response have not been disclosed, but Qatari Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on Tuesday said that the list of demands “is unrealistic and is not actionable.”
“It’s not about terrorism, it’s talking about shutting down freedom of speech,” he said.
Qatar has denied any support for extremism and accused the countries of seeking to infringe on its sovereignty.
The other demands include Qatar downgrading its ties with Iran — Saudi Arabia’s regional archrival — and shutting down a Turkish military base in the emirate.
“The state of Qatar has adopted a very constructive attitude since the beginning of the crisis. We are trying to act mature and discuss the matter,” Sheikh Mohammed said.
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