Qatar rebuffs ‘terror list’ as crisis grows

DOHA: The diplomatic crisis between Qatar and other Gulf states escalated further Friday as Doha dismissed as “baseless” a terrorist blacklist drawn up by Saudi Arabia and its allies.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain -which accuse Qatar of supporting Islamist extremist groups -released the list of 59 people and entities linked to “terrorism”.

On the list notably were Dohabased Muslim Brotherhood spiritual leader Yusuf al-Qaradawi as well as Qatari-funded charities.

However, in a bullish response, isolated Qatar said the list had no basis in reality and claimed it had the strongest record in the region on countering extremism.

“The recent joint statement issued by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the UAE regarding a ‘terror finance watch list’ once again reinforces baseless allegations that hold no foundation in fact,” read a statement from Qatar’s government.

“Our position on countering terrorism is stronger than many of the signatories of the joint statement -- a fact that has been conveniently ignored by the authors.”

It added: “We lead the region in attacking the roots of terrorism.”

Friday’s spat is unlikely to do anything to relieve tensions in the region in a spiralling political crisis, which also threatens to involve the US, Russia, Europe and other major players such as Turkey and Iran.

Turkey’s parliament has approved deploying troops to a base in Qatar and Iran has offered to send food to Doha.

On Monday, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain led a string of countries that cut ties with Qatar over what they say is the emirate’s financing of extremist groups and its ties to Iran.

They also banned Qatar Airways from using its airspaces and closed the country’s only land border, which it shares with Saudi Arabia, moves which Doha’s foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, has termed a “blockade”. In a press conference, he claimed the actions taken by Saudi Arabia and its allies amounted to “a clear breach of international law”.