Saudi blacklists Qatar ‘terror’ firms

Cairo warns EU that four Arab states would accept no compromise in dispute with Doha

Riyadh, July 25: Saudi Arabia and its allies unveiled a “terrorist” blacklist on Tuesday of 18 organisations and individuals suspected of links with Islamist extremism that they said shad ties with regional rival Qatar.

The move by the four Arab governments came despite mounting international pressure to compromise in their weeks-old boycott of their fellow US ally.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt blacklisted nine charity and media organisations and nine individuals “directly or indirectly linked to Qatari authorities” as “terrorist”, a joint statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency said.

“We expect Qatari authorities to take the next step and prosecute the terrorist groups and people,” the statement added.

The four governments on Tuesday blacklisted three organisations based in Yemen and six based in Libya accusing them of ties to Al-Qaeda. They also blacklisted three Qataris, three Yemenis, two Libyans and a Kuwaiti they said were implicated in “fundraising campaigns to support (former Al-Qaeda affilate) AlNusra Front and other terrorist militias in Syria”.

Meanwhile, Egypt warned the EU that four Arab states would accept no compromise in their dispute with Qatar over allegations that the gasrich emirate supports terrorism.