CAIRO – Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said on Wednesday that Qatar’s response to the demands of Egypt and Gulf countries was “very negative.”
Shoukry’s comments came during a press conference after his meeting in Cairo with his counterparts of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain to discuss their blockade of Qatar.
“We have held talks to discuss the recent developments of the Qatari crisis and the ways to deal with it,” he said.
Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt cut off diplomatic ties with Qatar on June 5 and imposed punitive measures, accusing the gas-rich country of “supporting terrorism and interfering in their internal affairs.”
The four Arab countries then issued a list of 13 demands to end rift with Doha including closing Al-Jazeera television and cutting diplomatic ties with Iran.
The four announced Wednesday morning that they received the Qatari response through Kuwait, who has played as a mediator to reach a solution for the crisis.
Among the six Gulf Cooperation Council states, Kuwait and Oman did not join the anti-Qatar blockade.
“There will be zero tolerance with the Qatari support for terrorism,” Shoukry said, adding that there are evidences showing that Qatar supported terrorism and extremism.
Shoukry affirmed that another meeting will be held in Bahrain soon to further discuss the issue.
Egypt’s administration, led by President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, is at odds with Qatar for the latter has allegedly supported and hosted fleeing members of the Muslim Brotherhood group, an organization currently blacklisted by the Egyptian government.
The Brotherhood supports former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi, who was toppled by the military in July 2013 in response to mass protests.
In the latest development, US President Donald Trump stressed on Wednesday the need for constructive negotiation between Qatar and its Arab neighbors, Egyptian state-run Ahram Online website reported.
Trump made the remarks in a phone discussion with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi.
Trump also called on all the countries to follow their commitments at the Riyadh summit in May to stopping financing terrorists and discrediting extremist ideology, according to Ahram.
