Qatar faces more sanctions from Gulf nations as deadline passes
QATAR is facing further sanctions after a deadline for the country to accede to a list of demands from its Gulf neighbours passed last night.
The 13-point ultimatum, which was issued 10 days ago as part of a dispute between the Gulf nations, had called for the gas-rich emirate to close Al Jazeera, the state-funded broadcaster, and to stop backing “terrorist” groups in the region.
The United Arab Emirates, which cut ties with Qatar at the same time as Saudi Arabia, was considering fresh economic penalties, according to the country’s ambassador to Russia.
At a press conference in Rome on Saturday, the Qatari foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, said that the list had been “made to be rejected”, and that Doha would not accede to any of the demands.
“We believe that the world is not governed by ultimatums,” he said. “We believe that the world is governed by the international law, it is governed by an order that does not allow large countries to bully small countries.”
While it was unclear what exactly Saudi Arabia and its allies would do after the deadline expired, Mr Thani said the country was prepared for possible military action. A small contingent of troops from Turkey, which has backed Qatar in the dispute, arrived in the country on Friday.
Turkey’s military base on the peninsula, opened after the crisis began, is its first in the Arab world. Joint exercises are planned between the two nations in the coming days.
The rift between Qatar and its neighbour came after Qatar refused to fall in line with Saudi Arabia’s foreign policy goals, in particular by maintaining links to Iran and support for the Muslim Brotherhood.
While it is not the first time that the Gulf nations have fallen out, the current crisis is the most serious, and has left the small country economically and politically isolated.
Western diplomats told The Daily Telegraph that they believed Mohammed Bin Salman, the newly elevated Saudi Crown Prince, was behind the aggressive sanctions.
Nader Kabbani, the director of research at Brookings Doha Center, a think tank, said that how the crisis developed was up to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
“Qatar has indicated a willingness to engage in dialogue and discuss grievances,” he said. “Dialogue would serve to reduce tensions and allow the parties to work out their differences and find common ground.”
He said that it was possible that the situation might not escalate, but that if it did, he thought it would most likely come through further economic sanctions.
“Given the high levels of economic and social integration between the GCC [Gulf Co-operation Council] countries, further escalation would hurt all countries involved and would further destabilise the region.”