Gulf quartet unveils Qatar terrorist blacklist

Saudi Arabia and its allies on Tuesday released a joint statement naming 9 charity organisations and 9 individuals 'directly or indirectly linked to Qatari authorities' as 'terrorist'.

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 have been boycotting Qatar since June 5 in the region's worst diplomatic crisis in years.

They sealed the emirate's only land border, ordered its citizens to leave and closed their airspace and waters to Qatari flights and shipping.

They demanded that Qatar break its longstanding ties with the Muslim Brotherhood, blacklisted as a "terror group" by the four governments although not by the international community.

They also demanded that it close broadcasting giant Al- Jazeera and a Turkish military base, and fall in line with Saudi-led policy in the region, particularly towards Iran.

Qatar has dismissed the demands as a violation of its sovereignty and has received significant support from its ally Turkey.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who last week spent four days in the region trying to broker a settlement of the crisis, has voiced satisfaction with Qatar's efforts to address any suspicion of terror funding.