Arab countries decided to extend deadline for Qatar

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt have agreed to extend by two days the deadline for Qatar to comply with their demands.

In a joint statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency early Monday, the four countries said they were extending the deadline, which expired Sunday, in response to a request by the Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.

The Kuwaiti ruler had informed the four countries that Doha had confirmed to him that it would send its official response to the list of claims against it on Monday.

Kuwait has been acting as a mediator after four countries severed diplomatic and travel ties with Qatar, 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.

On his hand, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir said measures taken against Qatar were painful considering its status as a brotherly and neighboring country, but were warranted due to its support for terrorist and extremist organizations, as well as its interference in the internal affairs of other countries.

In an interview with journalists at the Saudi Embassy in Washington, he said such interference was rejected not only by countries boycotting Qatar, but by all countries. He expressed hope that wisdom will prevail in Doha to put an end to such interventionism.

“We presented our list of demands to Qatar and clarified our position and took our decision, and the list of demands is non-negotiable and must be fully enforced,” said Al-Jubeir.

During his visit to the US, he participated in meetings with 30 members of the Senate and House of Representatives in Congress, and with heads of committees from the House of Representatives.

Meanwhile, Saudi Ambassador to the UN Abdullah Al-Mouallimi said Qatar insisted on destabilizing Saudi and regional security, and supporting terrorism that threatens the whole world.

Doha is participating with Tehran in creating regional chaos, and Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt have taken a sovereign decision to boycott Qatar in order to maintain security and press it to stop supporting terrorism, he added.

Qatar has chosen to be an ally of Iran, and for 20 years has supported terrorist groups with knowledge of their plots against countries in the region, Al-Mouallimi said. This has made Qatar a primary haven for terrorists, who are allowed to conspire against other countries, he added.

Doha was given several opportunities to stop supporting terrorism and interfering in the internal affairs of other countries, most recently in 2013 and 2014, but it did not comply, he said.