Four Arab countries boycotting Qatar will only enter dialogue to ease the dispute if Doha agrees to certain demands, and “fights terror”, the group said as they met in Manama on Sunday.
High-level officials from Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain and Egypt reiterated their positions on the crisis, condemning Qatar for what they perceive as Doha’s support for armed groups, Al Jazeera reported.
“The four countries are ready for dialogue with Qatar with the condition that it announces its sincere willingness to stop funding terrorism and extremism and its commitment to not interfere in other countries’ foreign affairs and respond to the 13 demands,” Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed al-Khalifa told the press after meeting his counterparts.
The televised news conference in Manama comes more than one month after the Saudi-led bloc cut diplomatic ties with Qatar and imposed a land, sea and air blockade on the country.
As part of the boycott, the four countries also expelled Qatari expatriates.
The group on Sunday acknowledged that Qatari citizens had suffered as a result of their siege.
However, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir refused to negotiate on a list of 13 demands on Doha —extended from an earlier list of six.
Scaling down relations with Iran, closing down Al Jazeera and shutting a Turkish military base which is currently under construction were included in that list of demands.
“[Qataris] speak of every issue except how to put an end to their support of terrorism,” said Jubeir, accusing Qatar of not being “genuine”.
“These demands are not negotiable. We cannot shrink [the list] down,” he said.
The group also hit back at Qatar’s claims that the bloc was politicizing the hajj pilgrimage by restricting the journey to some Qataris, saying that Doha was the party politicizing the pilgrimage.
The bloc is only allowing Qatari pilgrims to fly to Mecca from an airport in Doha, making the journey challenging for those who live or work abroad, such as students.
“I think this press conference confirms that we are at the first day of the crisis. We have not moved for the last 50 plus days, we haven’t moved anywhere,” Mahjoob Zweiri, professor at Qatar university, told Al Jazeera.
