Gulf row: Qatar is given a further 48 hours to agree to demands

Saudi Arabia and three other Arab states have extended the deadline for Qatar to accept a list of demands or face further sanctions by 48 hours.

The initial deadline for Qatar to agree to the group’s 13 demands, including the shutting down of the Al Jazeera news network, expired on Sunday.

The Gulf state, which denies funding extremism, is expected to submit a formal response on Monday.

It has called the demands an “affront to international law”.

The state’s foreign minister will travel to Kuwait on Monday morning to deliver the formal response in a letter, sent from the emir of Qatar to the emir of Kuwait, who is the main mediator in the Gulf crisis.

But in a statement released hours beforehand, lawyers for Qatar denounced the tactics and called for international condemnation.

They said the demands were “reminiscent of the extreme and punitive conduct of ‘bully’ states that have historically resulted in war”.

“The world must unite immediately to halt the singling out of Qatar for unjustified collective punishment and humiliation and to preserve peace, security and prosperity in the region.”

On Saturday, Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani said the state had rejected the demands, but was ready to engage in dialogue under the right conditions.

Qatar has been under unprecedented diplomatic and economic sanctions for weeks from Saudi Arabia and its allies, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain.

On 23 June, the four countries, whose foreign ministers will meet on Wednesday to discuss the situation, set a deadline of 10 days for Qatar to agree to their requirements, which include the closure of a Turkish military base and the curbing of diplomatic relations with Iran.

The imposed restrictions have caused turmoil in Qatar, an oil- and gas-rich nation dependent on imports to meet the basic needs of its population of 2.7 million. As a result, Iran and Turkey have been increasingly supplying it with food and other goods.

Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE and Bahrain have accused Qatar of harbouring their opponents – including political Islamists such as the Muslim Brotherhood, which is viewed as a particular threat by the absolute monarchies – and giving them a platform on the Al Jazeera satellite channel, which is funded by the Qatari state.

BBC

UM– USEKE.RW