Arab quartet rules out preconditions for talks

Riyadh : Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt yesterday maintained a tough stance rejecting preconditions by Qatar for a dialogue on the implementation of the 13 demands put forward by the quartet even after US President Donald Trump offered to help resolve the crisis.

The tough talk follows US President Donald Trump’s statement in Washington on Thursday that he will be willing to mediate to end the Gulf crisis after a meeting with Shaikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah, the Kuwaiti Amir mediating to end the dispute with Qatar.

At a joint news conference in Washington with the Kuwait Amir on Thursday, Trump announced his readiness for mediation in the three-month-old crisis.

“I would be willing to be the mediator,” Trump told reporters.

“I would be willing to do so, and I think you’d have a deal worked out very quickly,” he said. “I think it’s something that’s going to get solved fairly easily.”

But in a strongly worded joint statement early Friday, the Saudi-led bloc showed no signs of backing down as it questioned the Kuwaiti Amir’s statement that Qatar would be willing to accept their 13 demands.

“Dialogue on the implementation of the 13 demands should not be preceded by any conditions,” they said in the joint statement.

The demands include shutting Doha-based broadcaster Al Jazeera, closing a Turkish military base in the emirate and downgrading Qatari diplomatic ties with Iran.

The bloc also voiced “regret” about the Kuwaiti ruler’s statement “on the success of mediation in stopping military intervention”.

Instead, the four Arab states stressed in their joint statement that “the military option has not been and will not be considered” under any circumstances.

“The crisis with Qatar is not a dispute confined to the Gulf, but in fact it extends to numerous Arab and Islamic countries that have declared their stance regarding Qatar’s interference in domestic affairs and support for terrorism”, the quartet said. 

They also criticised Qatari Foreign Minister Shaikh Mohammad bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani for comments he made after the meeting between Trump and the Kuwaiti Amir.

Meanwhile, Shaikh Mohammad rejected the Saudi-led bloc’s 13 demands, saying they “attacked the sovereignty” of his country.

“Setting preconditions for dialogue confirms Qatar’s lack of seriousness in dialogue, combating and financing terrorism and interfering in the internal affairs of countries,” the bloc said in its statement.