Qatar responds to Gulf demands

Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani yesterday delivered his country’s official response to a list of demands by four Arab states which are imposing a siege on Doha, the Anadolu Agency reported.

Al-Thani met with the Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah in Kuwait and handed over the Qatari response to him.

“The emir has received Qatar’s response to the demands by the four Arab states during the meeting,” Kuwaiti diplomatic sources told the Anadolu Agency on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to media.

Read: Qatar says Arab states’ demands ‘made to be rejected’, says open to talks

Last month, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE and Bahrain cut diplomatic ties with Qatar, accusing Doha of interfering in their domestic affairs and supporting terror groups.

They also imposed a land, sea and air blockade on Qatar.

The four states presented a list of 13 demands, including the closure of the pan-Arab Al Jazeera television, to end the blockade on Qatar or face further sanctions.

They gave Doha a 10-day deadline that ended on Sunday to answer the demands, before they extended it by 48 hours.

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The Qatari government has strongly rejected the accusations and stressed the blockade is a violation of international law.

However, no details were given about the Qatari response, but Qatar has previously said that it would not close Al Jazeera, which it described as its “its pride.”