4 Arab states ask Qatar to shut down Al Jazeera

4 Arab states send Qatar list of demands, including closing Al Jazeera

Dubai/Doha, June 23: Four Arab states which had boycotted Qatar over its alleged support to terrorism have sent Doha a list of 13 demands, including closing Al Jazeera television channel and reducing ties to their regional adversary Iran, an official of one of the four countries said.

The demands aimed at ending the worst Gulf Arab crisis in years appear designed to quash a two-decade-old foreign policy in which Qatar has punched well above its weight, striding the stage as a peace broker, often in conflicts in Muslim lands.

The list, compiled by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain, which cut economic, diplomatic and travel ties to Doha on June 5, also demands the shutdown of a Turkish military base in Qatar. The countries gave Doha 10 days to comply, failing which the list becomes “void”, the official said.

In Doha, Al Jazeera said Friday any move to shut it down was an attack on media freedom. “We in the network believe any call for closing down Al Jazeera is nothing but an attempt to silence the freedom of expression in the region and to suppress people’s right to information,” it said.

Four Arab states boycotting Qatar over alleged support for terrorism have sent Doha a list of 13 demands including closing Al Jazeera television and reducing ties to their regional adversary Iran, an official of one of the four countries said.

The demands aimed at ending the worst Gulf Arab crisis in years appear designed to quash a two decade-old foreign policy in which Qatar has punched well above its weight, striding the stage as a peace broker, often in conflicts in Muslim lands.

Doha’s independentminded approach, including a dovish line on Iran and support for Islamist groups, in particular the Muslim Brotherhood, has incensed some of its neighbours who see political Islamism as a threat to their dynastic rule.

The list, compiled by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt and Bahrain, which cut economic, diplomatic and travel ties to Doha on June 5, also demands the closing of a Turkish military base in Qatar, the official said.

Turkey’s defence minister Fikri Isik rejected the demand, saying any call for the base to be shut would represent 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,” he added.

Meanwhile, the UAE advised Qatar to take the list seriously.

Anwar Gargash, the United Arab Emirates state minister for foreign affairs, issued the warning more than two weeks into the oil-rich region’s worst diplomatic crisis in years.

He also accused Qatar of leaking a document containing the demands by the four nations, which have cut diplomatic ties with the gas-rich state. Qatar strongly denies such charges.

The demands have not been officially unveiled but Al-Jazeera said on Thursday they were handed to Qatar by Kuwait. “The leak (of the demands by Qatar) is an attempt to abort the mediation in a childish act that we have grown accustomed to from our brother,” Mr Gargash said.

The demands are so aggressive that it makes it close to impossible to see a resolution of that conflict — Olivier Jakob, Strategist, Petromatrix @ANWARGARGASH It would be wiser that (Qatar) deal seriously with the demands, concerns of the neighbours