Saudi Arabia and its allies confirm receiving Qatar's response

By Azernews

By Kamila Aliyeva

Qatar, having found itself in the centre of the worst regional diplomatic crisis in years, has sent an official response to the list of 13 demands from its Arab neighbors.

Saudi Arabia and its allies confirmed receiving a response and announced that Qatar "will receive a reply in due time."

"Four countries received Qatar's response through the mediation of Kuwait before the end of the extended term, which was requested by Kuwaiti emir Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah Al Sabah," the joint statement by Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain and Egypt reads.

It was noted that Qatar, which faces isolation, sanctions and possible expulsion from the Gulf Cooperation Council, will receive a reply in due time.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt – who accuse Qatar of supporting extremism – gave Doha an extra 48 hours to meet their demands after an initial 10-day deadline expired on Sunday.

They required Qatar to cut diplomatic relations with Iran, close the Turkish military base, eliminate Al-Jazeera TV channel, extradite all persons wanted in four countries on charges of terrorism and pay compensation.

The demands put to Doha by Saudi Arabia and its allies in the Gulf diplomatic crisis were impossible to meet, Qatar's foreign minister said earlier.

"The list is unrealistic and is not actionable," Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani told reporters in Doha on July 4. 

He stressed that Doha was "prepared to engage in dialogue and examine grievances" and that there were "plenty of ways to prevent the crisis escalating".

"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 German counterpart Sigmar Gabriel.

Meanwhile, foreign ministers from the four countries that broke off diplomatic and trade relations with Qatar are due to meet in Cairo on July 5 with Qatar's response set to be on the agenda.

Despite the resonance that this crisis has received, some experts look into the future optimistically saying that finding solution to the Gulf conflict will take several months.

"Probably, it will be settled in a few months, when Saudi Arabia and the UAE will understand that the U.S. and other countries do not support their demands completely. They will probably give up some of the demands, and Qatar will make some concessions," Expert of the Congressional Research Service Kenneth Katzman said.

In his opinion, the crisis around Qatar will not lead to a military confrontation between the conflicting parties.