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Doha Anticipates Outcome of Quartet Meeting by Escalating Rhetoric | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Qatar’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani attends an interview in Doha, Qatar November 26, 2016. Picture taken November 26, 2016. REUTERS/Naseem Zeitoon


Dammam, Cairo– Few hours before the expected meeting between Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt and Bahrain to study the Qatari response to the list of 13 demands, Doha has escalated its rhetoric,the affirming that the demands were impossible to meet.

Kuna news agency reported that Kuwaiti Emir Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al Sabah’s envoy, Khaled Youssef al-Fulaij, has delivered a “response letter” to Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, without elaborating on the content of the letter.

The Kuwaiti emir met on Tuesday with Omani Minister Responsible for Foreign Affairs Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah to discuss efforts to resolve the crisis with Qatar.

Meanwhile, Qatar’s Foreign Affairs Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani announced Tuesday that the demands made by the four Arab nations were impossible to achieve.

During a joint news conference in Doha with German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, Al Thani said the list of demands “is unrealistic and is not actionable.”

He also stressed that any solution to the current crisis should be achieved through negotiations, reiterating that punishments imposed on Doha were illegal measures taken under the pretext of fighting terrorism.

The German minister, for his part, said his country had good relations with Qatar and with other GCC states, noting in this regard that Germany would not take any sides in the current dispute.

“We are working with all GCC state-members for the region’s stability and security,” Gabriel said.

On the eve of the Arab ministerial meeting in Cairo, between Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain to discuss the crisis with Qatar, Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Abul Gheit reiterated his support to the Kuwaiti mediation and expressed his readiness to deploy efforts in this context if the concerned parties desire so.

Abul Gheit’s comments came following his meeting in Rome on Tuesday with Italy’s Foreign Affairs Minister Angelino Alfano.

The secretary general’s spokesperson, Minister Delegate Mahmoud Afifi, said that the two officials have exchanged views on current crises and latest developments in the Middle East.