Add Category
Updated
Qatar's Foreign Minister has delivered a letter of response to a list of demands from its Arab neighbours, which have cut ties with the Gulf state, accusing it of supporting terrorism.
Qatar has consistently rejected those allegations and already indicated it would not comply with the demands, saying they were so extreme they seemed deliberately designed to be rejected.
Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani's delivery of the handwritten response came after the four countries — Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain — extended their deadline for Qatar to accept the terms by two days.
They already severed all air, land and sea links with Qatar and raised the possibility of imposing more sanctions if their demands were rejected.
The demands included the downgrading of ties with Iran, the closure of the Al-Jazeera news network and cutting support for the Muslim Brotherhood.
But whether another two days would be enough to end the crisis was unclear, and the Saudi-led quartet already had plans to meet in Cairo on Wednesday, when the deadline expires, to discuss their next moves.
Accusations Qatar funds extremists
The crisis began on June 5, as the countries cut off diplomatic ties to Qatar over their allegations the world's top producer of liquefied natural gas used its wealth to fund extremist groups and had overly warm ties to Iran.
Qatar has long denied funding terrorists and said it maintained communication with Iran because the two countries share a massive offshore natural gas field.
The quartet of countries first restricted Qatar's access to their airspace and ports, while sealing its only land border, which it shares with Saudi Arabia.
They later issued a 13-point list of demands on June 22 to end the standoff and gave Qatar 10 days to comply.
Early on Monday morning, after the deadline expired, the countries said they would give Qatar another 48 hours after a request by Kuwait's 88-year-old ruler, Sheikh Sabah Al Sabah.
The emir has been trying to mediate an end to the crisis, as he did in a similar dispute in 2014.
"The response of the four states will then be sent following the study of the Qatari government's response and assessment of its response to the whole demands," the countries said in a joint statement.
Qatar's Foreign Minister travelled later on Monday to Kuwait City, to deliver the handwritten note from Qatar's Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, according to the state-run Kuwait News Agency.
Kuwaiti and Qatari officials did not respond to questions about what the letter said, though a photograph from the meeting showed Sheikh Sabah reading it with no expression on his face.
Foreign leaders call for unity
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump spoke with Sheikh Tamim, as well as King Salman of Saudi Arabia and Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the crown prince of the Emirati capital, Abu Dhabi.
The White House said Mr Trump had urged unity and reiterated the importance of stopping terrorist financing and discrediting extremist ideology.
A separate statement carried on the official Qatar News Agency said the Emir's discussion with Mr Trump touched on the need to fight terrorism and extremism in all its forms and sources, and was a chance for the countries to review their bilateral strategic relations.
German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, speaking to reporters on Monday in Saudi Arabia, said he hoped an agreement would be reached between Arab states and Qatar that ends terrorism financing across the region.
Mr Gabriel said after meeting Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, the two agreed on the need to end any support for extremist organisations and that he hoped the demands focused on ending terror financing and incitement.
More sanctions possible if Qatar refuses demands
What comes next remains in question.
If Qatar does not agree to the demands, the nations could push forward with financial sanctions or push the country out of the Gulf Cooperation Council, a regional body that serves as a counterbalance to Iran.
Some Arab media outlets have gone as far as suggesting a military confrontation or new leadership be installed in Qatar.
On Wednesday in Cairo, the four countries will discuss "future steps in dealing with Qatar as well as exchange of points of view and the evaluation of the existing international and regional contacts in this connection", Egypt's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Ahmed Abu Zeid, said.
Qatar stands 'ready to defend our country'
But Qatari officials said they would not back down either.
Al-Jazeera, the satellite news network funded by Qatar that the countries have demanded be shut down, issued a video message saying: "We too have demands … we demand press freedom."
Qatari Defence Minister Khalid bin Mohammed al-Attiyah said on Sunday: "Qatar is not an easy country to be swallowed by anyone."
"We are ready. We stand ready to defend our country," he said.
"I hope that we don't come to a stage where, you know, a military intervention is made."
ABC/AP
Topics: world-politics, government-and-politics, terrorism, qatar, egypt, kuwait, united-arab-emirates, bahrain, saudi-arabia
First posted