Saudi says hoping for ‘positive’ response from Qatar to end GCC crisis

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt are “hoping” that Qatar will respond “positively” to the demands put forth by them, the Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs, Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir said on Monday.

Al Jubeir’s comments came after a meeting with German foreign minister Sigmar H Gabriel in the kingdom.

“I assured the German foreign minister that the four countries are keen to build the best relations with our brothers in Qatar and that the aim of the measures that have been taken is to change the policies of Qatar which we consider to be detrimental to Qatar, the countries of the region and the world,” the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) quoted Al-Jubeir as saying.

Once Qatar agrees to the demands, “then we will take the appropriate attitude towards them,” the Saudi minister added.

Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain and Egypt severed diplomatic and travel ties with Doha last month, accusing the Gulf state of supporting terrorism and backing Iran.

The countries presented Doha with a list of 13 demands via the conflict’s moderator, Kuwait, and warned further sanctions if Qatar does not comply. The demands include closing a Turkish military base in Qatar and shutting down the Al Jazeera TV network, among others.

The deadline for Qatar to comply with the demands initially ended on Sunday, but an extension of two days was granted on Monday. However, Qatari foreign minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani has said the demands were ‘made to be rejected’.

Read more: Qatar given two more days to accept GCC demands

Qatar says GCC demands ‘made to be rejected’ as deadline looms

On Monday, Al-Jubeir urged Qatar to comply with the demands so that “we can reach a solution to this crisis”.

Egypt said on Sunday that foreign ministers from the four countries that have imposed the sanctions would meet in Cairo on Wednesday to discuss Qatar, without providing further details.