Quad summit to discuss new escalation against Qatar expected

CAIRO – 2 July 2017: A quad summit between Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Bahrain is expected following the Qatari rejection to Arab countries’ 13 demands, said political expert Tareq Fahmy.

“I expect that this summit will consider new ways of escalation against Qatar, so that each country take other steps, most of which will be economic and political, and may also consider a unified policy of agreed escalation,” Fahmy, political science lecturer at Cairo University, added.

Doha’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani told reporters on Saturday that demands made by four Arab countries “were designated to be rejected,” in Rome.

Last month, a number of countries severed ties with Qatar, accusing the tiny Gulf state of funding terrorist groups.

The countries listed 13 demands to be met by Qatar, including: 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.