Embattled Qatar delivers response to Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Egypt on Wednesday said they have received a response from Qatar to a list of their demands to end the political crisis in the Gulf region.

The Arab countries, which are scheduled to meet in Cairo today to discuss future action with Qatar, did not provide any details on the measures they were considering or a specific timeframe in which they would respond.

Last month, Saudi Arabia and its allies severed diplomatic and trade ties with Qatar, accusing it of supporting terrorism and fomenting unrest in the region.

They later sent Qatar a list of 13 demands with a 10-day deadline ending July 2, threatening further sanctions if the Gulf state failed to comply.

The deadline was extended by 48 hours on a request by Kuwait, which has been acting as a mediator in the crisis.

Qatar has repeatedly denied accusations that it supports terrorism. Qatari foreign minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani earlier said that the list of demands was “made to be rejected.”