Arab nations demand that Qatar shutter AlJazeera, cut Iran ties
10DAY DEADLINE Call for shutting Turkey military base in Doha, cutting links to Muslim Brotherhood
Saudi Arabia and other Arab states that have cut ties to Qatar have issued a steep list of 13 demands to end the crisis, insisting that their Persian Gulf neighbour shutter Al-Jazeera television, cut back diplomatic ties to Iran and sever all ties with the Muslim Brotherhood.
The list of demands in Arabic — presented to the Qataris by Kuwait, which is helping mediate the crisis — also demanded the closing of a Turkish military base in Qatar.
Qatar must also announce it is severing ties with terrorist, ideological and sectarian organizations, including the Muslim Brotherhood, Islamic State, al-Qaeda, Hezbollah and Jabhat Fateh al Sham, formerly al Qaeda’s branch in Syria and surrender all designated terrorists on its territory.
The list was compiled by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain, which cut economic, diplomatic and travel ties to Doha on June 5.
The countries gave Doha 10 days to comply, failing which the list becomes “void”, an official said without elaborating, suggesting the offer to end the dispute in return for the 13 steps would no longer be on the table.
Turkey’s defence minister Fikri Isik rejected the demand to end his country’s military presence in Qatar, saying any call for shutting the base would amount to 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.”
Isik said “no one should be disturbed” by the Turkish presence in Qatar as the base aims to train Qatari soldiers and increase the tiny Gulf nation’s security.
Turkey has sided with Qatar in the dispute and its parliament has ratified legislation allowing the deployment of Turkish troops to the base.
The military said a contingent of 23 soldiers reached Doha on Thursday.
The four Arab countries have accused 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 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.