Egypt: Position of Arab quartet has not changed against Qatar

CAIRO – 1 August 2017: The Arab quartet position has not changed towards the Qatari crisis, and is ready for dialogue, in case it announces that it will stop financing terrorism and supporting terrorist groups, Spokesperson of Egypt’s Foreign Affairs Ministry Ahmed Abu Zeid said in statement to reporters on Tuesday.

Abu Zeid further said that there is increasing interest from international parties over the crisis of the Arab Quartet with Qatar, explaining that the Arab Quartet is keen to coordinate and consult in dealing with Qatar.

On Sunday, the foreign ministers of the four Arab states announced they are ready for dialogue with Qatar in case the latter meets the 13 demands that rose in June, during a press conference in Bahraini capital, Manama.

The press conference is held after a brief meeting among the four foreign ministers of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, during which they reviewed the updates of the crisis with Doha.

Previously, four Arab states gave the Qatari authorities ten days to approve a number of requests, which included severing ties with terrorist groups, closing down the pan-Arab Al Jazeera satellite channel, downgrading ties with arch-rival Iran and closing a Turkish air base in Qatar.

On 5 June, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have suspended diplomatic ties with Qatar, due to supporting terrorism.