French, British and German leaders urge all sides of the ongoing Gulf rift to solve the crisis diplomatically.
Leaders of France, UK and Germany have urged both sides of the diplomatic standoff in the Gulf to resolve the crisis peacefully.
French President Emmanuel Macron spoke to Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on the phone on Monday about the latest developments of the Gulf crisis, according to Qatar News Agency (QNA).
Macron and the emir “stressed the need to resolve this crisis through dialogue and diplomatic means”, QNA said.
Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Theresa May spoke to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman about the ongoing crisis.
She urged all sides to “take urgent steps to de-escalate the situation and restore Gulf Cooperation unity”, May’s office said in a statement on Monday.
The statement also said that the “UK remains committed to supporting” the process towards finding a solution.
Also on Monday, Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said that he hopes Qatar will respond positively to a list of demands put forth by his country and three other Arab states.
“We hope for a positive response to be able to resolve the crisis,” he said from the Saudi city of Jeddah during a press conference with his German counterpart, Sigmar Gabriel.
The two leaders stressed the need to resolve the Gulf crisis through dialogue and diplomatic means, as well as back the mediation efforts of Kuwait , according to QNA.
Jubeir said that the response will be “examined with precision”.
The press conference came after Qatar delivered its response to a list of 13 demands from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the UAE.
Qatar’s Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani was received by Kuwait’s Emir Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah on Monday to hand over a letter from Qatar’s emir, according to state-run Kuwait News Agency.
The response will be the focus of a gathering in the Egyptian capital of Cairo on Wednesday of foreign ministers from the four blockading countries.
The Saudi-led group severed diplomatic ties with Qatar and imposed sanctions on it on June 5, accusing it of supporting “terrorism”. The allegation has been rejected by Doha as “baseless”.
After more than two weeks, the four countries gave Doha 10 days, or until Sunday night, to comply with a 13-point demand list in exchange for the end of the anti-Qatar measures.
The demands included that Qatar shut down the Al Jazeera Media Network, close a Turkish military base and scale down ties with Iran.
Source: Al Jazeera and news agencies
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