Arab states send Qatar 13 demands to end crisis

Four Arab states boycotting Qatar over alleged support for terrorism have sent Doha a list of 13 demands, including closing Al Jazeera television and reducing ties to their regional adversary Iran, an official of one of the four countries said.

The list, compiled by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt and Bahrain, and presented to Qatar by Kuwait, which is helping mediate the crisis, also demands the closing of a Turkish military base in Qatar.

Qatar must also announce it is severing ties with terrorist, ideological and sectarian organisations including the Muslim Brotherhood, Islamic State, al Qaeda, Hezbollah, and Jabhat Fateh al Sham, formerly al Qaeda's branch in Syria, he said, and surrender all designated terrorists on its territory.

They are also demanding that Qatar hand over all individuals who are wanted by those four countries for terrorism; stop funding any extremist entities that are designated as terrorist groups by the US; and provide detailed information about opposition figures that Qatar has funded, ostensibly in Saudi Arabia and the other nations.

According to the list, Qatar must refuse to naturalise citizens from the four countries and expel those currently in Qatar, in what the countries describe as an effort to keep Qatar from meddling in their internal affairs. 

More broadly, the list demands that Qatar align itself politically, economically and otherwise with the Gulf Cooperation Council, a regional group that has focused on countering the influence of Iran. Saudi Arabia and other Sunni-led nations have accused Qatar of inappropriately close ties to Iran, a Shiite-led country and Saudi Arabia's regional rival.

The Iran provisions in the document state Qatar must shut down diplomatic posts in Iran, kick out from Qatar any members of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard, and only conduct trade and commerce with Iran that complies with US sanctions. Under the 2015 nuclear deal, nuclear-related sanctions on Iran were eased but other sanctions remain in place.

Cutting ties to Iran would prove incredibly difficult as Qatar shares a massive offshore natural gas field with Iran, which supplies the small nation.

With regards to Doha-based satellite broadcaster Al Jazeera, the list says Qatar must also close all of its affiliates.

Supported by Qatar's government, Al-Jazeera is one of the most widely watched Arabic channels, but it has long drawn the annoyance of Middle Eastern governments for airing alternative viewpoints. Qatar has 10 days to comply with all demands, which include paying an unspecified sum in compensation, failing which the list becomes 'void', the official said without elaborating.

Qatar vehemently denies funding or supporting extremism. But the country acknowledges that it allows members of some extremist groups such as Hamas to reside in Qatar, arguing that fostering dialogue with those groups is key to resolving global conflicts. 

Qatar's government has said it won't negotiate until Arab nations lift their blockade. The demands were also likely to elicit Qatari objections that its neighbors are trying to dictate its sovereign affairs by imposing such far-reaching requirements.