UPDATE: Arab quartet agrees on Kuwait's request to extend ultimatum to Qatar

CAIRO- 3 July 2017: Arab countries boycotted Qatar agreed to extend the deadline for Qatar to reply to a list of demands, for two days.

The Arab quartet decision came after Kuwait requested from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Bahrain to extend the deadline for 48 hours.

“In response to the request of his Highness Shiekh Sabah Ahmed Gaber Sabah, to extend the deadline the four states give to Qatar, as Doha keeps insisting that it will submit its official reply on Monday, the four states announce their approval to his highness request,” the four states said in a joint statement.

Earlier Kuwait has received response by Qatar to a list of demands by Arab nations accusing Doha of supporting terrorism, but has asked those countries to extend the deadline, reported by KUNA.

Without stating whether Qatar had rejected the ultimatum as was widely expected, KUNA said Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah asked Saudi Arabia and three other countries that have boycotted Qatar to grant it an extension.

At an invitation from Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, a quartet meeting would be held with his counterparts of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Bahrain on the Arab’s dispute with Qatar on Wednesday, stated Egyptian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Ahmed Abu Zeid in a statement on Sunday.

“The meeting comes within the framework of coordination and consultation among the four countries on the future steps to deal with Qatar, and of exchange views and evaluating the international and regional communications in this regard, the statement read.

Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani will hand Kuwaiti Emir Sabah bin Ahmed al-Sabah Doha’s response to the Arab countries’ demands on Monday, Al-Arabyia new reported on Sunday.

Arab and Gulf countries, mainly Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain, severed their ties with Qatar over accusations of supporting terrorist groups.

Kuwait tried to mediate a resumption of diplomatic and commercial ties between Qatar and several of its Arab neighbors.

The four countries have also sent Doha a list of 13 demands which must be met by Monday in order to end the standoff.

They also labeled 59 individuals and 12 organizations, with ties with Qatar, as terrorists, and had closed their airspace and maritime navigation for Qatari vessels early June.




Inforgraphic: Arab demands from Qatar

Bahraini Minister of Foreign Affairs Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa said on Sunday Qatar has to abide by its previous commitments and the demands made by the countries that boycotted it in order to achieve stability in the region, Bahrain's news agency reported.

In a phone call, the Bahraini minister exchanged views with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on severing relations with Qatar and ways to reach an outcome that guarantees security and peace in the region.

Saudi Arabia has stressed that Qatar insists on destabilizing its security and that of region's countries in addition to supporting terrorism that threatened the whole world.

This came in a press statement made by Saudi Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, said the Saudi Press Agency.

He also pointed out to "Qatar's participation with Tehran in their ongoing endeavor to create chaos in the countries of the region", saying that Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt have taken a sovereign decision in boycotting Qatar, in order to maintain security control in the region and press Doha to stop supporting terrorism.

Mu'allemi said that Qatar has chosen to be an ally of Iran and since 20 years it has been continuing in support of terrorist groups with its knowledge of their plots against the countries of the region.

He stressed that Qatar's continued support for terrorism is what make Doha to be the first haven for terrorists, where they find the fertile environment while its government receives and allow those terrorists to conspire against their own countries.

He also affirmed that the four countries; Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt tried to keep Qatar in its natural surroundings and Doha has been given several opportunities to stop its support for terrorism and non-interference in the internal affairs of countries, most recently in 2013 and 2014, yet these efforts failed and Qatar did not comply with the requirements.

Gamal Mazloum, the former head of research center at Gamal Abdel Nasser Academy, told Egypt Today that disputes with Qatar are expected to continue, but they will remain being political and diplomatic boycotts against supporting terrorism in the region and not shift to a military dispute.

“We are still at the beginning of the conflict, but we should expect nothing more than economic sanctions, especially since no one has made military threats to Qatar,’’ the expert continued.

However, Mazloum commented on the Turkish military movements in Qatar, saying that their presence provides protection for the Qatari authorities that fear an opposition coup.

Following cutting ties in June, Turkey sent troops to be deployed in Qatar and filled around 105 Turkish cargo planes with food. The troops aim to protect the Qatari regime and train Qatari soldiers.

Reda Shehata, former Egyptian deputy minister of foreign affairs, said “what Qatar is doing will not only impact the situation of the ruling family but also the people of Qatar and the security of the entire region in the Gulf,” adding that Qatar’s practices of supporting terrorism have subjected the region to Iranian and Turkish intervention.

He further suggested that Qatar will continue resorting to major powers to resolve the conflict with its Arab neighbors, such as the United States or its economic partners in the west.

However, Shehata confirmed that western countries will not want to interfere in such a dispute or take a supportive position of a certain side, as their role would be limited to calling for political dialogue. In particular, the U.S. does not consider the Arab countries crisis with Qatar as a threat to its economic interests, but a regional Arab conflict.

In a similar context, Mazloum called on international foreign companies to cut cooperation with Qatar, especially those which significant investments in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt.

He also suggested that Qatar’s rejection of the 13 demands could result in its withdrawal from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), affecting the economic, political and military aspects of Qatar.

Mazloum further suggests that Qatar’s membership in the Arab League could be revoked or suspended as a result of their rejection of the demands.

Mazloum and Shehata’s opinions strongly suggest that Qatar should reconsider its rejection of the Arab states demands; otherwise its diplomatic and economic conditions will face further deterioration. In addition, the four Arab states will look for different ways to escalate efforts to limit, and ultimately end, Qatar’s alleged funding and support of terrorist groups.

Over the past weeks Qatar spread in the international media that four Arab countries are imposing blockade on the tiny rich kingdom. The four countries denied such claims and said it is only boycott in order to force Tamim regime to stop supporting terrorist groups operated in the MENA region.


Inforgraph that explains the difference between blockade and boycatt

The Arab Federation of Human Rights condemned the Qatari government’s decision to name the recent severance of diplomatic ties assumed by many Arab countries towards the Gulf nation as a ‘blockade’.

The federation clarified in a report that ‘blockade’ is defined as a coercive isolation imposed through military force, according to international law.



Qatar is however subject to a ‘boycott’ which is “a withdrawal of diplomatic and economic relations by a state or group of states with another state.”

All countries have the sovereign right to establish or sever diplomatic ties with other states in the event that the latter are attempt “to stir unrest and insecurity among the international community.” Thus, any country has to right to boycott any other country perceived as a threat.

The federation’s report mentioned that the European Union also rejected the label ‘blockade’ as referring to the current measures taken against Qatar by its neighbors. The EU, Russian government and the United States are anticipating that Qatar will soon abandon its support for terrorist groups, according to Arab News.

“Qatar has shown a lack of political will to implement anti-terrorist financing laws effectively,” Adam Zubin, a senior official at the U.S. Treasury Department, stated.