JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE and Bahrain have received Qatar’s response to their collective demands for restoring relations and that they “will respond to it in a timely manner,” the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said early Wednesday.
The Saudi foreign ministry also said on Twitter that Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir received from Kuwaiti State Minister Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah Al-Sabah the official Qatari response, which described as “unrealistic” the list of demands.
The four countries severed ties with Qatar on June 5 and later put forward a list of 13 demands, which included Doha ending support for the extremist Muslim Brotherhood, closing broadcaster Al-Jazeera, downgrading diplomatic ties with Iran and shutting down a Turkish military base in Qatar.
They gave Qatar a further 48 hours to meet their demands after an initial 10-day deadline expired Sunday, following a request from Kuwait, which is acting as mediator in the crisis.
“The four countries received the Qatari response through the state of Kuwait before the end of the extended period. And it will be responded to at the right time,” the Saudi foreign ministry tweeted.
Foreign ministers from the four countries are due to meet in Cairo, Egypt from 1100 GMT (1 p.m. Cairo time) Wednesday to discuss their next move.
Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, who handed the official response to Kuwait, said the list of demands “is unrealistic and is not actionable.”
“It’s not about terrorism, it’s talking about shutting down the freedom of speech,” he said.
Riyadh and its supporters have severed air, sea and ground links with Qatar, cutting off vital routes for imports including food.
They also ordered Qatari citizens to leave their territories and took various steps against Qatari firms and financial institutions.
On Tuesday, the heads of intelligence from the four boycotting countries held a meeting in Cairo, according to Egypt’s state news agency MENA.
MENA, citing “informed sources,” did not provide details of the meeting, which took place one day before foreign ministers from the four countries were due to meet to decide whether to continue sanctions they imposed on Qatar.
(With input from AFP and Reuters)
KSA, allies to respond to Qatar's apparent rejection of demands 'in a timely manner'
KSA, allies to respond to Qatar's apparent rejection of demands 'in a timely manner'
Related
Palestinian VP meets diplomat expected to serve on Trump’s Gaza peace board
- Media reports say he is expected to serve as the representative on the ground in Gaza for the Board of Peace
- Sheikh said that during his meeting with Mladenov, “an in-depth discussion took place on all political and field developments in the Palestinian territories“
RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories: Palestinian vice president Hussein Al-Sheikh met on Friday with former UN Middle East envoy Nickolay Mladenov, who is expected to head the US-backed Board of Peace in Gaza.
The meeting in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah comes a day after Mladenov held talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and met with President Isaac Herzog.
Bulgarian diplomat Mladenov served as the United Nations envoy for the Middle East peace process from early 2015 until the end of 2020.
Media reports say he is expected to serve as the representative on the ground in Gaza for the Board of Peace — a transitional body for the war-battered Palestinian territory which US President Donald Trump would theoretically chair.
In a statement on X, Sheikh said that during his meeting with Mladenov, “an in-depth discussion took place on all political and field developments in the Palestinian territories.”
He added there was “a focus on the situation in the Gaza Strip, means of transitioning to the second phase (of the ceasefire), mechanisms for implementing the US President Donald Trump’s plan, and UN Security Council Resolution 2803.”
That UN Security Council resolution endorsed the Trump plan in November.
Under Trump’s 20-point plan, Gaza will be governed by a temporary transitional technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee, under the oversight and supervision of the Board of Peace.
Under the second stage of the fragile ceasefire that came into effect in October, Israel is supposed to gradually withdraw from its positions in Gaza, while Hamas is supposed to lay down its weapons.
An international stabilization force is also to be deployed.
But talks to bring about the second phase stalled after Israel accused Hamas of delaying the return of the last hostage in its custody.
Netanyahu met with Mladenov in Jerusalem on Thursday and “reiterated that Hamas must be disarmed and the Gaza Strip must be demilitarised,” the prime minister’s office said in a statement.
It said that Mladenov “is set to become the Director of the Gaza Strip Board of Peace.”
Herzog also met with Mladenov on Thursday, a spokesman from his office said, without providing details.
US media outlet Axios has reported that Trump is expected to announce the Board of Peace next week and that it would include around 15 world leaders.
“Among the countries expected to join the board are the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt and Turkiye,” Axios reported.
Some White House officials fear both Israel and Hamas are slow-walking the second stage of the ceasefire, with each side alleging frequent ceasefire violations.
