Arab states send Qatar 13 demands to end crisis, official says

[webfact]

Arab states send Qatar 13 demands to end crisis, official says

By William Maclean and Rania El Gamal

 

Buildings are seen on a coast line in Doha, Qatar, June 15, 2017. REUTERS/Naseem Zeitoon

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DUBAI (Reuters) - Four Arab states boycotting Qatar over alleged support for terrorism have sent Doha a list of 13 demands including closing Al Jazeera television and reducing ties to their regional adversary Iran, an official of one of the four countries said.

 

The demands aimed at ending the worst Gulf Arab crisis in years appear designed to quash a two decade-old foreign policy in which Qatar has punched well above its weight, striding the stage as a peace broker, often in conflicts in Muslim lands.

 

Doha's independent-minded approach, including a dovish line on Iran and support for Islamist groups, in particular the Muslim Brotherhood, has incensed some of its neighbours who see political Islamism as a threat to their dynastic rule.

 

The list, compiled by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt and Bahrain, which cut economic, diplomatic and travel ties to Doha on June 5, also demands the closing of a Turkish military base in Qatar, the official told Reuters.

 

Qatar must also announce it is severing ties with terrorist, ideological and sectarian organisations including the Muslim Brotherhood, Islamic State, al Qaeda, Hezbollah, and Jabhat Fateh al Sham, formerly al Qaeda's branch in Syria, he said, and surrender all designated terrorists on its territory,

 

QATAR WON'T NEGOTIATE UNDER BOYCOTT

 

The four Arab countries accuse Qatar of funding terrorism, fomenting regional instability and cosying up to revolutionary theocracy Iran. Qatar has denied the accusations.

 

Qatari officials did not reply immediately to requests for comment. But on Monday, Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said Qatar would not negotiate with the four states unless they lifted their measures against Doha.

 

The countries give Doha 10 days to comply, failing which the list becomes "void", the official said without elaborating, suggesting the offer to end the dispute in return for the 13 steps would no longer be on the table.

 

The demands, handed to Qatar by mediator Kuwait also require that Qatar stop interfering in the four countries' domestic and foreign affairs and stop a practice of giving Qatari nationality to citizens of the four countries, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

 

Qatar must pay reparations to these countries for any damage or costs incurred over the past few years because of Qatari policies, he added. Any resulting agreement to comply with the demands will be monitored, with monthly reports in the first year, then every three months the next year, then annually for 10 years, the official said without elaborating.

 

U.S. President Donald Trump has taken a tough stance on Qatar, accusing it of being a "high level" sponsor of terrorism, but he has also offered help to the parties in the dispute to resolve their differences.

 

Turkey has backed Qatar during the three-week-old crisis. It sent its first ship carrying food aid to Qatar and dispatched a small contingent of soldiers and armoured vehicles there on Thursday, while President Tayyip Erdogan spoke with Saudi Arabia's leaders on calming tension in the region.

 

(Reporting by William Maclean; Editing by Rania El Gamal and Paul Tait)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-06-23

[coulson]

If Qatar have been punching above their own weight for 20 years then that qaulifies them as a ME heavyweight. Too late to reign in their horns. Turkey going nowhere. US licking their lips for more arms deals on both sides of the fence. This will carry on in mediation for months maybe years.

[natway09]

Saudi Arabia wants to be the boss.

so it is "the pot calling the kettle black"

Cheeky sods

[Kiwiken]

From what I have seen Dohars support for extremist groups is more implied than proven. Certainly as has been said is the Pot calling the Kettle black given the UAE and Saudi support for dubious groups and their own oppressive regimes.

The main thrust is not about these red herrings but really about Al Jazeerah and its open display of Regional Issues.

Saudis, Emirates and Egypt want their people only to read the News and World events as they themselves wish to show it and not in an open way.

This is about Propaganda and suppression of free speech. All Nations who support open and free speech and the right to air different perspectives should speak out and tell the Saudis, Emirates and Egypt to back off.

I may not agree with some points of view aired on Al Jazeerah  but i support the right of free speech

[Orton Rd]

Even my mrs calls Al Jazeera the Palestinian channel, it's pure Islamic anti American propaganda. Quite a laugh when they have done documentaries about women's rights of course, but never in Muslim countries.

[Dave67]

Not going to happen , will either go on for years or other GCC countries will back down

[Kiwiken]

1 hour ago, Orton Rd said:

Even my mrs calls Al Jazeera the Palestinian channel, it's pure Islamic anti American propaganda. Quite a laugh when they have done documentaries about women's rights of course, but never in Muslim countries.

I would actually take issue with that. Maybe because I only see the English language version but I have seen their presentation as balanced. Certainly not anti American. Again i do not agree with all they show. I do find them very informative. And often far more balanced in their approach to some middle east and World problems. I think it is their more balanced view on the Arab World that upsets their Gulf neighbours. 

[ilostmypassword]

5 hours ago, Orton Rd said:

Even my mrs calls Al Jazeera the Palestinian channel, it's pure Islamic anti American propaganda. Quite a laugh when they have done documentaries about women's rights of course, but never in Muslim countries.

Without you explaining who your mrs. is, it's impossible to know why her opinion is especially insightful. Is she a Palestinian or a scholar specializing in Mideast Media?

[ilostmypassword]

3 hours ago, Kiwiken said:

I would actually take issue with that. Maybe because I only see the English language version but I have seen their presentation as balanced. Certainly not anti American. Again i do not agree with all they show. I do find them very informative. And often far more balanced in their approach to some middle east and World problems. I think it is their more balanced view on the Arab World that upsets their Gulf neighbours. 

The Arabic version is, in general, considerably more slanted and Islamist. That said, it also did things like covering live debates in the Israeli Knesset. As flawed as Al-Jazeera is, it represents a big improvement over the previous media situation in the mideast.Here's a link to a column about Al Jazeera and why it arouses so much animus from certain of its neighbors.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/06/23/why-saudi-arabia-hates-al-jazeera-so-much/

 

[RobFord]

I would actually take issue with that. Maybe because I only see the English language version but I have seen their presentation as balanced. Certainly not anti American. Again i do not agree with all they show. I do find them very informative. And often far more balanced in their approach to some middle east and World problems. I think it is their more balanced view on the Arab World that upsets their Gulf neighbours. 

With most of these government news organizations it's more about what isn't covered than covered.

RT cherry picks negative US news, but never mentions Putin, and it is available in most of the hotel rooms I've been in while in Asia.

How is AJ different? And I visit their APP most days ( wouldn't touch Fox or RT with a ten foot pole ).


Sent from my iPhone using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[Morch]

10 hours ago, Kiwiken said:

From what I have seen Dohars support for extremist groups is more implied than proven. Certainly as has been said is the Pot calling the Kettle black given the UAE and Saudi support for dubious groups and their own oppressive regimes.

The main thrust is not about these red herrings but really about Al Jazeerah and its open display of Regional Issues.

Saudis, Emirates and Egypt want their people only to read the News and World events as they themselves wish to show it and not in an open way.

This is about Propaganda and suppression of free speech. All Nations who support open and free speech and the right to air different perspectives should speak out and tell the Saudis, Emirates and Egypt to back off.

I may not agree with some points of view aired on Al Jazeerah  but i support the right of free speech

 

I don't know that Al Jazeera is the focal point of this stand off, or its "main thrust". One could cite rivalry with Iran, worries about competing Islamic forces and various economic issues, as being equally, if not more, germane. 

 

Granted, presenting it as being primarily about Al Jazeera does play better when it comes to Western public opinion. As pointed out in other posts, hailing Al Jazeera as a paragon of free speech is a dubious proposition. At the very least, it ought to be qualified.

[Morch]

8 hours ago, Dave67 said:

Not going to happen , will either go on for years or other GCC countries will back down

 

The whole thing? No, it won't. I don't think there's any serious expectation Qatar will comply with all of the demands. That it will agree, one way or the other, to some of them, is a safe enough bet though. There will be some compromise reached, Qatar will promise this or that, which no one will expect it to wholly follow through. Cheeks will be kissed, and oil (or rather, gas) will flow. It may carry on for years in the sense that issues will crop up again, sometime in the future.

[ubonjoe]

A off topic post meant to derail the topic has been removed.

[simple1]

10 hours ago, Orton Rd said:

Even my mrs calls Al Jazeera the Palestinian channel, it's pure Islamic anti American propaganda. Quite a laugh when they have done documentaries about women's rights of course, but never in Muslim countries.

Al Jazeera reporting on female HR rights in Saudi Arabia.

 

http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/everywoman/2008/05/2008615165711906854.html

 

[Dave67]

1 minute ago, Morch said:

 

The whole thing? No, it won't. I don't think there's any serious expectation Qatar will comply with all of the demands. That it will agree, one way or the other, to some of them, is a safe enough bet though. There will be some compromise reached, Qatar will promise this or that, which no one will expect it to wholly follow through. Cheeks will be kissed, and oil (or rather, gas) will flow. It may carry on for years in the sense that issues will crop up again, sometime in the future.

They promised this and that in 2014 when exactly the same thing happened. Thats why its happened this time as they did not stick to the original agreement of 2014.There is no sign in Qatar of them conceding to the other GCC countries. Those countries will have a massive loss of face if they back down. I live in Doha and everying is fine no shortages no riots or coup going to happen . They are sticking a massive two fingers up at Saudi.

[Morch]

5 minutes ago, Dave67 said:

They promised this and that in 2014 when exactly the same thing happened. Thats why its happened this time as they did not stick to the original agreement of 2014.There is no sign in Qatar of them conceding to the other GCC countries. Those countries will have a massive loss of face if they back down. I live in Doha and everying is fine no shortages no riots or coup going to happen . They are sticking a massive two fingers up at Saudi.

 

The current crisis been on for a limited period of time. Sure, Qatar can get around restrictions, but for how long and at what price? Don't see it going into full confrontation mode, and not serving any party's agenda to prolong it more than necessary. So after the "required" preliminary beating of chests, expect things will be sorted to the dissatisfaction of all sides.

[metisdead]

Off topic posts and replies about 9/11 have been removed. 

[Srikcir]

21 minutes ago, Morch said:

The whole thing? No, it won't.

Especially since Qatar has a "big stick." The United States its biggest concentration of military personnel in the Middle East at Qatar's Al Udeid Air Base - home to some 11,000 US military personnel. Likely rent-free. Qatar starts making noise to have the US leave immediately and Trump will run in to do an apologetic sword dance.

[Morch]

9 hours ago, Kiwiken said:

I would actually take issue with that. Maybe because I only see the English language version but I have seen their presentation as balanced. Certainly not anti American. Again i do not agree with all they show. I do find them very informative. And often far more balanced in their approach to some middle east and World problems. I think it is their more balanced view on the Arab World that upsets their Gulf neighbours. 

 

5 hours ago, ilostmypassword said:

The Arabic version is, in general, considerably more slanted and Islamist. That said, it also did things like covering live debates in the Israeli Knesset. As flawed as Al-Jazeera is, it represents a big improvement over the previous media situation in the mideast.Here's a link to a column about Al Jazeera and why it arouses so much animus from certain of its neighbors.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/06/23/why-saudi-arabia-hates-al-jazeera-so-much/

 

 

21 minutes ago, simple1 said:

Al Jazeera reporting on female HR rights in Saudi Arabia.

 

http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/everywoman/2008/05/2008615165711906854.html

 

 

Al Jazeera controversies and criticism

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Jazeera_controversies_and_criticism

 

Editorial independence

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Jazeera#Editorial_independence

 

Al Jazeera America accused of bias against non-Arabs and women

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/jun/11/al-jazeera-america-accused-bias-non-arabs-women

 

 

 

 

 

[Morch]

7 minutes ago, Srikcir said:

Especially since Qatar has a "big stick." The United States its biggest concentration of military personnel in the Middle East at Qatar's Al Udeid Air Base - home to some 11,000 US military personnel. Likely rent-free. Qatar starts making noise to have the US leave immediately and Trump will run in to do an apologetic sword dance.

Like I said, it is in no party's best interests for things to get out of hand. That would include the US.

But honestly, I do not see Qatar initiating such a move as you describe. Too good a shield to let go of.

US having a coherent foreign policy under Trump is another dubious proposition, hard to say what the US will do as it's not always what Trump does.

[Dave67]

2 minutes ago, Morch said:

 

The current crisis been on for a limited period of time. Sure, Qatar can get around restrictions, but for how long and at what price? Don't see it going into full confrontation mode, and not serving any party's agenda to prolong it more than necessary. So after the "required" preliminary beating of chests, expect things will be sorted to the dissatisfaction of all sides.

The Emir has gained huge popularity with his stance. Images of his face shaded by the purple and white Qatari flag are appearing on the side of skyscapers , shopfronts and rear windows of peoples cars. Qatar hasn't said much only they will talk when Embargo is lifted. Can see it dragging on to be honest

[simple1]

Just now, Morch said:

Al Jazeera controversies and criticism

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Jazeera_controversies_and_criticism

 

Editorial independence

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Jazeera#Editorial_independence

 

Al Jazeera America accused of bias against non-Arabs and women

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/jun/11/al-jazeera-america-accused-bias-non-arabs-women

 

OK - I watch Al Jazeera world news most early mornings, never had a problem with the content in English, actually think quite professional, international news clips often broadcast on main TV channels in Oz even though many MSM media channels in Oz can be hysterical about "Muslim" threats.

[Morch]

Just now, Dave67 said:

The Emir has gained huge popularity with his stance. Images of his face shaded by the purple and white Qatari flag are appearing on the side of skyscapers , shopfronts and rear windows of peoples cars. Qatar hasn't said much only they will talk when Embargo is lifted. Can see it dragging on to be honest

Guess we'll have to wait and see. I'd imagine he's less gung ho about it, regardless of what's said in public.

[Dave67]

15 minutes ago, Morch said:

Guess we'll have to wait and see. I'd imagine he's less gung ho about it, regardless of what's said in public.

There is a lot of rhetoric flying about at the moment Qatar is playing the victim when maybe its not

Al Jazeera screened in the middle east is not as we see in the rest of the world apparently. It is too pro Iran for the Saudis which is why they have taken them off air and asking Qatar to shut them down. Hopefully for those with loved ones in opposing countries it won't go on for long. But I wouldnt hold my breath

[Dumbastheycome]

On 6/23/2017 at 4:13 PM, natway09 said:

Saudi Arabia wants to be the boss.

so it is "the pot calling the kettle black"

Cheeky sods

The   kettle  has  an  orange  handle

[Dumbastheycome]

Just now, Dumbastheycome said:

The   kettle  has  an  orange  handle

Or is it the  pot?