Riyadh: “Doha’s response to the demands to end the crisis was not serious,” said the statement from four Arab nations who have imposed a blockade on Qatar for its alleged support for terrorism.
The statement came after foreign ministers from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain met in Egypt’s capital after receiving Doha’s response to their list of demands.
“Qatar’s response was generally negative and failed to lay the foundation for Qatar’s reversal of the policies it pursues,” said Sameh Shoukry, an Egyptian Foreign Minister, at a joint news conference in Cairo.
He also described Doha’s response as a “position that reflects a failure to realise the gravity of the situation”.
“We hope wisdom will prevail and Qatar will eventually make the right decisions,” Shoukry added.
On his turn, the Saudi foreign minister told reporters that further steps against Qatar would be taken at the appropriate time and will be in line with international law.
Adel al Jubeir said that the political and economic boycott will remain until Qatar changes its policies for the better.
“The embargo will remain in place until Qatar rectifies its policies,” he said.
“In respect to future measures, we are in constant communication. We are states of sovereignties, and we have the right to take any measures in line with international law.”
“The foreign ministers issued more of the same unsubtantiated accusations against Qatar,” said Al Jazeera’s Marwan Bishara, reporting from London
“It was long on slogan and very short on details, or anything of substance,” Bishara said.
The countries issued the 13-point list of demands on June 22, giving Qatar 10 days to respond.
That period was then extended to Wednesday at the request of Kuwait, which is mediating in the crisis.
The contents of Qatar’s response submitted on Monday have not been disclosed, but earlier Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said the list of demands “is unrealistic and is not actionable”.
On Wednesday, Sheikh Mohammed called for a dialogue to resolve the impasse.
Qatar has denied any support for extremism and accused the countries of seeking to infringe on its sovereignty.
The other demands include Qatar downgrading ties with Iran which is Saudi Arabia’s regional rival and shutting down a Turkish military base in the emirate.