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No room for negotiation over Qatar demands, Saudi official says

Senior official says nation must meet coalition’s demands

By Nafeesa Syeed, Bloomberg News
Published: June 27, 2017, 10:39pm

WASHINGTON — Qatar will remain cut off from its neighbors unless it leaders meet the nonnegotiable demands of a Saudi Arabia-led coalition, according to a senior Saudi official.

“We made our point, we took our steps and it’s up to the Qataris to amend their behavior,” Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told reporters Tuesday at his country’s embassy in Washington. Once they do, “then things will be worked out. But if they don’t, they will remain isolated.”

Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt severed air, sea and land links with Qatar earlier this month, saying they were isolating the sheikhdom over ties to Iran and support for Islamist terrorist groups. After U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson urged the bloc to put its demands in writing, the coalition presented Qatar with a list Friday of 13 requirements to end the standoff.

The list, which Tillerson has described as “very difficult” to comply with, includes shutting down the state-sponsored Al-Jazeera TV network; cutting back diplomatic ties with Iran; severing relations with the Muslim Brotherhood; and ending Turkey’s military presence in Qatar. Qatar was given 10 days to respond.

Qatar has denied supporting terrorism, saying the dispute is really about the Saudis seeking dominance over their neighbors. Officials have said the Saudi demands don’t meet the criteria set out by the U.S. and U.K. governments for reasonable and realistic measures.

“This list of demands confirms what Qatar has said from the beginning — the illegal blockade has nothing to do with combating terrorism, it is about limiting Qatar’s sovereignty, and outsourcing our foreign policy,” Sheikh Saif Al Thani, director of Qatar’s government communications office, said this week in an emailed statement.

Al-Jubeir dismissed claims that the Saudi-led group is leading a blockade that’s “starving” Qatar’s population.

“If Qatar wants to come back into” the regional Gulf Cooperation Council, “they know what they have to do,” he said.

Kuwait is helping to mediate the impasse and has been in touch with all sides, including “countries outside the region,” al-Jubeir said.

“Qatar has begun its careful review and consideration of a series of requests presented by Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and U.A.E.,” Tillerson said Sunday. “While some of the elements will be very difficult for Qatar to meet, there are significant areas which provide a basis for ongoing dialogue leading to resolution.”

Al-Jubeir maintained Tuesday that Saudi Arabia wouldn’t budge from its stance, saying other countries, including the U.S., want Qatar to cease its activities. President Donald Trump has said the Saudi-led alliance was right to act against Qatar.

“Does anyone in the U.S. government support Qatar harboring terrorists and terror financiers? No one,” al-Jubeir said. “We hope that reason will prevail and that our brethren in Qatar will do the right thing.”

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