Dubai - Saudi Arabia and three allies
accusing Qatar of supporting terrorism have agreed to a request
by Kuwait to extend by 48 hours Sunday's deadline for Doha to
comply, according to a joint statement on Saudi state news
agency SPA.
Without stating whether Qatar had rejected the ultimatum as
was widely expected, Kuwaiti state news agency KUNA said
Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah had asked
Saudi Arabia and the three other countries boycotting Qatar to
grant it an extension.
Kuwait has been acting as a mediator after Saudi Arabia, the
United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt severed diplomatic and
travel ties with Doha, accusing it of supporting terrorism and
being an ally of regional foe Iran.
Qatar has called the charges baseless and its foreign
minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, said the
stiff demands - including closing Qatar-based al Jazeera TV and
ejecting Turkish troops based there - were made to be rejected.
The countries have threatened further sanctions against
Qatar if it does not comply with their list of 13 demands
presented to Doha through Kuwait 10 days ago.
Egypt said on Sunday that foreign ministers from the four
boycotting countries would meet in Cairo on Wednesday to discuss
Qatar, without providing further details.
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 official
guidance to pull deposits and interbank loans from Qatar.
The US State Department, which is an ally of all countries
involved, endorsed Kuwait's role as a mediator and called for
both sides in the dispute to exercise restraint.