Qatar given 10 days to fulfil Arab states' 'aggressive' demands

File picture: ANA Pictures

File picture: ANA Pictures

Published Jun 23, 2017

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Dubai - Four Arab states boycotting Qatar

over alleged support for terrorism have sent Doha a list of 13

demands including closing Al Jazeera television and reducing

ties to their regional adversary Iran, an official of one of the

four countries said.

The demands aimed at ending the worst Gulf Arab crisis in

years appear designed to quash a two decade-old foreign policy

in which Qatar has punched well above its weight, striding the

stage as a peace broker, often in conflicts in Muslim lands.

Doha's independent-minded approach, including a dovish line

on Iran and support for Islamist groups, in particular the

Muslim Brotherhood, has incensed some of its neighbours who see

political Islamism as a threat to their dynastic rule.

The list, compiled by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates

(UAE), Egypt and Bahrain, which cut economic, diplomatic and

travel ties to Doha on June 5, also demands the closing of a

Turkish military base in Qatar, the official told Reuters.

Turkey's Defence Minister Fikri Isik rejected the demand,

saying any call for the base to be shut would represent

interference in Ankara's relations with Doha. He suggested

instead that Turkey might bolster its presence.

"Strengthening the Turkish base would be a positive step in

terms of the Gulf's security," he said. "Re-evaluating the base

agreement with Qatar is not on our agenda."

Qatar must also announce it is severing ties with terrorist,

ideological and sectarian organisations including the Muslim

Brotherhood, Islamic State, al Qaeda, Hezbollah, and Jabhat

Fateh al Sham, formerly al Qaeda's branch in Syria, the Arab

official said, and surrender all designated terrorists on its

territory.

The four Arab countries accuse Qatar of funding terrorism,

fomenting regional instability and cosying up to revolutionary

theocracy Iran. Qatar has denied the accusations.

Qatari officials did not reply immediately to requests for

comment. But on Monday, Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin

Abdulrahman al-Thani said Qatar would not negotiate with the

four states unless they lifted their measures against Doha.

The countries give Doha 10 days to comply, failing which the

list becomes "void", the official said without elaborating,

suggesting the offer to end the dispute in return for the 13

steps would no longer be on the table.

"The demands are so aggressive that it makes it close to

impossible to currently see a resolution of that conflict," said

Olivier Jakob, a strategist at Switzerland-based oil consultancy

Petromatrix.

Several Qataris who spoke to Reuters described the demands

as unreasonable. "Imagine another country demanding that CNN be

closed," said 40-year-old Haseeb Mansour, who works for telecom

operator Ooredoo.

Abdullah al-Muhanadi, a retired public sector shopping for

groceries in Doha on Friday morning, said the boycott must be

lifted before negotiations to resolve the dispute could start.

"There's a lot on the list that is simply not true or

unreasonable, so how can we comply?" he said. "There are no IRGC

(Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps) elements in Qatar and the

agreement with Turkey is a long-standing diplomatic agreement so

we cannot ask them to leave."

The demands, handed to Qatar by mediator Kuwait also require

that Qatar stop interfering in the four countries' domestic and

foreign affairs and stop a practice of giving Qatari nationality

to citizens of the four countries, said the official, who spoke

on condition of anonymity.

Qatar must pay reparations to these countries for any damage

or costs incurred over the past few years because of Qatari

policies, he added. Any resulting agreement to comply with the

demands will be monitored, with monthly reports in the first

year, then every three months the next year, then annually for

10 years, the official said without elaborating.

U.S. President Donald Trump has taken a tough stance on

Qatar, accusing it of being a "high level" sponsor of terrorism,

but he has also offered help to the parties in the dispute to

resolve their differences.

Turkey has backed Qatar during the three-week-old crisis. It

sent its first ship carrying food aid to Qatar and dispatched a

small contingent of soldiers and armoured vehicles there on

Thursday, while President Tayyip Erdogan spoke with Saudi

Arabia's leaders on calming tension in the region.

Reuters

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