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Qatar unwavering as deadline extends by 48 hours

July 3, 2017 at 3:09 pm

Palestinians hold Qatari flags during a demonstration in support of Qatar, in Khan Yunis, Gaza on 14 June 2017 [Ali Jadallah/Anadolu Agency]

Speaking on the list of demands put forward by the Saudi-led coalition against Qatar, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in a statement that “he hopes they will be reasonable and actionable”. The list, which was subsequently presented to Qatar, invited widespread criticism; many have called the list un-actionable and unreasonable.

Qatar, on the other hand, has rejected the list of demands. According to Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdurahman Al-Thani the demands “were made to be rejected”. Amongst the demands presented to the Qatari government is the closure of Al Jazeera Media Network. The UN Human Rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said in a statement that the demand to close Al Jazeera is “extraordinary, unprecedented and clearly unreasonable”.

Germany’s Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel has also been very vocal in expressing his dissatisfaction with the blockade and the list of demands presented to Qatar by Saudi Arabia and the UAE-led coalition. Speaking to Handelsblatt business newspaper he criticised the treatment of Qatar by other major Arab nations and “likened it to a Trumpisation of relations”.

Read: Qatar says it will not negotiate unless neighbours lift ‘blockade’

Late on 2 July 2017 Al Jazeera English reported that Qatar has prepared a response to the list of demands and has submitted the response to the Emir of Kuwait, Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jabar Al-Sabah. Kuwait announced early Monday morning that the deadline has been extended by 48 hours giving negotiations a new lease of life. It also emerged from the same report that there have been a number of calls amongst the leaders of the Gulf Cooperative Council (GCC) and between the Emir of Qatar Sheik Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani with the president of the US, Donald Trump. In the meantime the Qatari Stock Exchange suffered a 3 per cent loss by the close of business on 2 July 2017.

The strong reactions from a number of countries condemning the blockade of Qatar have weakened the Saudi-led coalition’s resolve against Qatar. Furthermore the critical coverage by most publications regarding the blockade and the list of demands has put the coalition on the back foot. The Economist for an example has been unrelenting. On 29 June 2017 the magazine reported that Saudi Arabia is a country whose pro-democracy blogger Raif Badawi “has been sentenced to 1,000 lashes and ten years in jail, is trying to shut down the only big, feisty broadcaster in the Arab world, Al Jazeera. This is an extraordinary, extraterritorial assault on free speech. It is as if China had ordered Britain to abolish the BBC”.

Qatar’s foreign relations have undoubtedly come of age; the country is entering a big global politics arena independent from the GCC. Qatar has to embrace this new reality whatever the costs including the possibility of loosing its permanent position within the GCC. This new political arena comes with certain kinds of political characteristics which will indeed present both opportunities and challenges to Qatar. More will be expected from Qatar henceforth – there will be a close political scrutiny as the country entrenches itself in this new environment.

Read: What comes after the blockade?

Qatar has stated very clearly that it will not compromise its sovereignty by yielding to the demands of the coalition. Qatar is perhaps the first country in the region that has ever invited this amount of solidarity. It is something that none in the region will ever garner in their best of days. The country can only move forward from here, the reaction and solidarity dictate a different political and foreign policy trajectory.

#QatarGate

In recent times the government of Qatar has been under pressure to fine-tune certain laws particularly those pertaining to the treatment of workers involved in the construction of stadiums for the FIFA 2022 World Cup. Those pressures will most likely continue. Changes in Qatar’s sociopolitical postures and foreign position will continue to irk its neighbours. This is therefore not the last political standoff between Qatar and its neighbours.

Finally, Qatar has embraced the high moral ground throughout this debacle. It is an unprecedented political action in a region whose political reactions have been characterised by violence and impunity when faced with such challenges. The country has reassured all citizens from the “hostile nations” that their rights in Qatar will be guaranteed and will not be expelled from the country. However, the concern for many in the region is not Qatar’s reaction but that of bigger nations like Saudi Arabia and the UAE in future. It is the emerging of a “maverick leadership style” which seeks to bully its way through on a whim which is of greatest concern to many in the region.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.