Qatar was to respond on Monday after Saudi Arabia and its allies gave a defiant Doha another 48 hours to accept a series of demands or face further sanctions.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt announced in the early hours of Monday they were pushing back a deadline for Qatar to agree to a list of 13 demands they issued on June 22.
A joint statement said they were extending the ultimatum, which had been due to expire at the end of the day on Sunday, at the request of Kuwait’s emir.
Kuwait, which has been acting as a mediator in the crisis, has received assurances that “Doha would submit its official response to the demands to Kuwait on Monday,” the statement said.
Doha said Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani would deliver its response by hand to Kuwait’s emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah.
The demands include Doha ending support for the Muslim Brotherhood, closing broadcaster Al-Jazeera, downgrading diplomatic ties with Iran and shutting down a Turkish military base in the emirate.
Sheikh Mohammed had earlier said the list of demands was “made to be rejected”.
Saudi Arabia and its allies announced on June 5 they were severing ties with their Gulf neighbor, sparking the worst diplomatic crisis to hit the region in decades.
They accused Doha of supporting extremism and of being too close to l Iran, which Qatar has strongly denied.
Source: AFP
