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| Qatar row: Arab states send list of steep demands | Qatar row: Arab states send list of steep demands |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Four Arab states have sent Qatar a list of 13 demands it must meet if it wants them to lift their sanctions, news agencies report. | |
| Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain are asking the Gulf state to shut down its broadcaster, Al Jazeera. | Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain are asking the Gulf state to shut down its broadcaster, Al Jazeera. |
| They are also asking Qatar to reduce ties with Iran and close a Turkish military base - all within 10 days. | They are also asking Qatar to reduce ties with Iran and close a Turkish military base - all within 10 days. |
| Qatar denies funding terrorism and fostering regional instability. | |
| It has been subjected to more than two weeks of unprecedented diplomatic and economic sanctions, in the worst political crisis among Gulf countries in decades. | |
| The list was announced after US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson urged Qatar's neighbours to make their demands "reasonable and actionable". | The list was announced after US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson urged Qatar's neighbours to make their demands "reasonable and actionable". |
| Correspondents say there has been frustration in Washington, which is seeking to resolve the dispute, over the time taken by the Saudis and others to formalise their demands. | Correspondents say there has been frustration in Washington, which is seeking to resolve the dispute, over the time taken by the Saudis and others to formalise their demands. |
| There was no immediate response from Qatar but Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said earlier that it would not negotiate until the punitive measures were lifted. | |
| Can Al Jazeera survive Qatar crisis? | |
| Why Qatar is the focus of terrorism claims | |
| Five surprising facts about Qatar | |
| A murky business: analysis by Lyse Doucet, BBC chief international correspondent | |
| This fight is a murky business in the region. | |
| Money from official and private sources has flowed to armed groups from most Gulf states for years. In Syria's war, it often amounted to sacks of cash dropped at hotels in Turkey. That is where accountability often ended as money moved across the border to messy battlefields. | |
| Qatar repeatedly came under criticism in many capitals for allegedly backing the al Qaeda-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which was previously known as al-Nusra Front and is one of the most formidable jihadist groups battling President Bashar al-Assad's forces. But other Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia, also fund hardline Islamist fighters. | |
| Full analysis | |
| 'Unspecified sum' | |
| According to the Associated Press news agency, which obtained a copy of the list, Qatar must also: | |
| An unnamed official from one of the four countries told Reuters news agency that Qatar was also being asked to sever links with so-called Islamic State, al-Qaeda and Lebanese Shia militant group Hezbollah. | |
| According to the document seen by AP, Qatar is being asked to shut down diplomatic posts in Iran, expel any members of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard and only conduct trade with Iran that complies with US sanctions. | |
| The document specifies that both Al Jazeera and all of its affiliates must be shut down. Al Jazeera, which has an English-language branch, is one of the most widely watched Arabic satellite channels. | |
| Gulf countries and Saudi Arabia's close ally, Egypt, have long accused the broadcaster of providing a platform for Islamist movements and encouraging dissent. |