Arab quartet to meet in Cairo to discuss Qatar
Doha delivers its response to Kuwait
July 4, 2017 | 12:00 AM
In this photograph released by Kuwait News Agency, Kuwait’s ruler Sheikh Sabah Al-Sabah, center right, looks at a letter from Qatar’s emir given to him by Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed Al Thani, center left, Monday. The Arab nations earlier on Monday extended a deadline for Qatar to meet their demands by 48 hours. — AP
July 4, 2017 | 12:00 AM
Last Updated: July 4, 2017 | 12:00 AM
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Kuwait — Qatar’s foreign minister, carrying a handwritten letter from the country’s emir, arrived in Kuwait to deliver Doha’s formal response to Arab demands, according to Kuwait News Agency.
The Arab nations earlier on Monday extended a deadline for Qatar to meet their demands to end the dispute by 48 hours.
Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have raised the possibility of further sanctions against Qatar if it does not comply with the 13 demands presented to Doha through Kuwait, which is acting as a mediator.
According to a joint statement on Saudi Press Agency, the four countries agreed to a request by Kuwait to extend by 48 hours Sunday’s deadline for compliance.
They have not specified what further sanctions they could impose on Doha, but commercial bankers in the region believe that Saudi, Emirati and Bahraini banks might receive guidance to pull deposits and interbank loans from Qatar.
Foreign ministers from the four countries will meet in Cairo on Wednesday to discuss Qatar, Egypt said.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said foreign ministers of Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates will meet in Cairo on Wednesday.
He said the meeting will discuss the future steps in dealing with Qatar, as well as exchange of points of view and evaluating existing international and regional contacts.
Cairo also will play host to a meeting of a United Nations agency monitoring international air travel over a complaint by Qatar about its neighbors cutting off its air routes over the dispute. That meeting is due on Thursday.
Gulf countries have insisted the demands were non-negotiable.
The UAE’s minister of state for foreign affairs, Anwar Gargash, has played down the chances of an escalation, saying “the alternative is not escalation but parting ways”, suggesting Qatar may be forced out of the GCC.
The four states cut diplomatic and commercial ties with Qatar on June 5, saying it supports terrorism, meddles in their internal affairs and advances the agenda of Iran. — Agencies
