Saudi FM says working on list of Qatar 'grievances'

LONDON -16 June 2017: Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said on Friday that a list of grievances involving Qatar was being drawn up and would be presented soon.

The minister, Adel al-Jubeir, said Qatar should respond to demands to halt its support for "extremism and terrorism" which, he said, were being made by the whole world and not just Gulf states.

Four Arab states - Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt - severed diplomatic relations with Qatar on June 5, accusing it of supporting Islamist militants and Iran - charges that Doha has denied. The UAE has also decided to blacklist Qatari individuals and entities.

Speaking to journalists in London, Jubeir said: "I would not call them demands. I would say it is a list of grievances that need to be addressed and that the Qataris need to fix.

"We are working on those with our Bahraini, Emirati and Egyptian partners in order to compile this list and present it to the Qataris, and I think it will be done fairly soon."

Calling Doha an "ally" in the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Jubeir said there was no intention of harming the Qatari people.

"Enough is enough, and our Qatari brothers cannot continue to fund extremism and terrorise and incite and use hostile media and interfere with the affairs of other countries and still remain in good standing," he said, adding he expected a positive response to the demands from Doha that would move the region to a "better place".

Jubeir did not detail what demands could be made.

But his comments echoed those of the UAE's ambassador to the United States, who said on Tuesday the list would broadly address three areas of support for terrorism, meddling in the internal affairs of the four Arab states and attacks through Qatari-owned media platforms. However, there was no military component to action against Qatar, the envoy added.