Saudi-led group receives Qatar response to demands

Saudi-led group receives Qatar response to demands

Qatar 'will receive a reply in due time' after the group of countries confirm receiving response to the list of demands.

Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies said Qatar "will receive a reply in due time" after the group of countries confirmed receiving a response to their list of demands.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt announced on June 5 they were severing ties with Qatar and later put forward a list of 13 demands.

On Monday, Qatar's Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani handed over a letter from Qatar's emir in response to the demands to Kuwait, which is mediating in the dispute, according to state-run Kuwait News Agency.

"Minister Adel al-Jubeir received from the Kuwaiti state minister Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah Al-Sabah the official Qatari response regarding the demands of the boycotting countries," Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry said on Twitter early on Wednesday.

"Qatar will receive a reply in due time," said a statement, according to the Saudi News Agency.
On Tuesday, Qatar's foreign minister said the list of conditions for restoring relations "is unrealistic and is not actionable".

"It's not about terrorism, it's talking about shutting down the freedom of speech," he said at a joint press conference after talks with his German counterpart Sigmar Gabriel.

The list of demands by the group included Doha ending its support for the Muslim Brotherhood, closing Al Jazeera Media Network, downgrading diplomatic ties with Iran and shutting down a Turkish military base in the country.

Foreign ministers from the four countries that broke off diplomatic and trade relations with Qatar are due to meet in Cairo on Wednesday with Qatar's response set to be the talking point of the meeting.
The Saudi-led group accuses Qatar of supporting "extremism" and of being too close to Saudi Arabia's regional arch-rival Iran. Doha has strongly denied the accusations.

Qatar's foreign minister refused to give any details regarding the content of the reply but said Doha was looking for a solution to the month-long crisis based on dialogue.

"The state of Qatar has adopted a very constructive attitude since the beginning of the crisis. We are trying to act mature and discuss the matter," he said.

Al Jazeera's Saad al-Saeedi, reporting from Kuwait City, said there was "a sense of relief, tinged with caution" in Kuwait.

"Qatar's response to the demands was handed to the emir, followed by an extensive meeting between the Qatari foreign minister and his Kuwaiti counterpart for more than one and half hours," he said.
"The meetings reflect Kuwait's intense activity at the highest levels, from the emir down. Some sources suggest that the Kuwaiti foreign minister will join the four countries meeting in Cairo on Wednesday. It is clear that a breakthrough is being achieved; that some of the demands could be addressed."

Source: AL JAZEERA