Tabnak – The diplomatic spat between Qatar and a Saudi-led bloc of four Arab nations is still going on with Doha refusing to accept the demands raised by the Arab quartet. However, it seems that the Saudis and their partners are willing to modify a little their demands of Doha.
In the latest development regarding the Qatar crisis, the Saudi-led bloc of states boycotting Qatar have called on Doha to accept what they view as core "principles” already mentioned in their list of demands from Qatar, apparently backing down from a number of the terms on the 13-point list dismissed by the emirate.
Saudi Arabia’s United Nations Ambassador Abdallah al-Mouallimi said during a briefing for a group of UN correspondents on Tuesday that the quartet is committed to the six principles agreed at a meeting in Cairo on July 5, The Associated Press reported. He expressed hope that Qatar would also support the six "essential” demands.
According to BBC, the six demands include combating terrorism and extremism, denying financing and safe havens to terrorist groups, stopping incitement to hatred and violence, and refraining from interfering in the internal affairs of other countries. Mouallimi said closing Qatari news channel Al Jazeera might not be necessary but stopping incitement to violence and hate speech was essential.
Meanwhile, UAE permanent representative at the UN Lana Nusseibeh warned that if Qatar was "unwilling to accept core principles around what defines terrorism or extremism in our region, it will be very difficult" for it to remain in the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council.
The quartet comprising Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain severed diplomatic ties and cut all land, sea, and air routes with Qatar on June 5, accusing it of supporting terrorism -- allegations denied by Doha.
They later issued the 13-point list of demands for Doha to meet in order for the relations to be restored. Among them was that Qatar end its support for Egypt’s biggest banned opposition party Muslim Brotherhood, close down a Turkish military base on its soil, limit its ties with Iran and "compensate” the sanctioning countries for unspecified harm.
However, as Aljazeera reported on Wednesday, Qatar has said it was considering taking legal action against the Saudi-led bloc. Qatar’s Economy Ministry said the country had contracted a specialized legal team to study the actions taken by the blockading countries.
Ahmed bin Jassim Al Thani, Qatar’s economy minister, met on Tuesday with the heads of international trade organizations in Geneva to discuss the case for compensation, the report added.
The Qatari defense chief also hinted during an interview with TRT World that Doha could refer to the International Court of Justice to seek restitution for the blockade’s adverse consequences.
