Qatar responds to demands of Arab quartet

Doha July 5 (IANS) The four Arab countries in a diplomatic standoff with Qatar have said that they have received a response from Doha to their list of demands.

Bahrain Egypt the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia suspended diplomatic relations and cut off land sea and air travel to Qatar in June accusing the country of funding terrorism and destabilising the Middle East. Doha denied the accusations.

The four-country bloc had issued a 12-day ultimatum to Qatar -- that expires at midnight on Wednesday -- to respond to their list of 13 demands as a precondition to restoring bilateral ties CNN reported.

Qatar s response was handed over to the Arab quartet by Kuwait which is acting as a mediator in the dispute the report said.

Qatari Foreign Minister Mohamed bin Abderrahman al Zani had refused to reveal the details of Doha s formal response and reiterated that the list of demands were unrealistic and not actionable.

The demands included the closure of the Al Jazeera media network a reduction in diplomatic ties with Iran and the halting of a Turkish military base in Qatar.

The four countries also did not divulge details of the response but said they will respond in due time.

Foreign Ministers of the four countries are set to meet in Cairo later in the day to discuss Qatar s response.

--IANS
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