Arab states call Qatar’s response to deadline, demands ‘not serious’

World Today

Seated from left clockwise at table, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, and Bahraini Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed al-Khalifa meet in Cairo, Egypt, Wednesday, July 5, 2017. The foreign ministers from four Arab nations that have sought to isolate Qatar over its alleged support for extremist groups started talks Wednesday, hours after the quartet said they had received Qatar’s response to their demands for ending the crisis. (Khaled Elfiqi, Pool, via AP)

On June 22, 2017, Saudi Arabia and three Gulf nations issued a list of demands to Qatar to avoid further sanctions.

But, as the deadline passed on the demands, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates said that Qatar’s response to the demands was “not serious.”

Egypt’s foreign minister, Sameh Shukri, told reporters Qatar’s response to the Arab states’ 13-point list of demands was “negative on the whole.” It did not “lay the foundations for Qatar’s abandonment of the policies it pursues. It’s a position that does not realize the gravity of the situation,” he added.

Shukri’s comments came after a meeting of the four foreign ministers in Cairo in an effort to discuss the deadline and their next actions.

The four allied countries accuse Qatar of supporting terror groups.

The ministers did not say what their next steps would be, but said that they would meet again on the issue.