After announcing late last night that they had received an official response from Qatar, the Saudi-led bloc of nations that cut ties to the natural-gas rich Gulf nation are meeting in Cairo on Wednesday to "deliver a verdict" on Doha's response to a stiff ultimatum, but settlement of the dispute seemed far off according to Reuters.
Via GEFIRA,
The First and the Second World War were the culmination of rivalries that go as far back as over a thousand years, when Charlemagne subjugated the Saxon tribes inhabiting modern Germany, and creating the Carolingian Empire. The political successors of Franks, France, and Saxons, the latter morphing into the Holy Roman Empire, then Prussia, then Germany, would continue to fight border wars until the bloodiest of them all, World War 2, inflicted enough destruction to both to force them to give up military means for the reciprocal arrangements.
With the original ultimatum issued by four Arab states accusing Qatar of supporting terrorism, expiring at midnight on Sunday, the Saudi-led coalition agreed to extend the deadline for Doha to comply with its list of demands until late on Tuesday a, even as U.S. President Donald Trump voiced concern to both sides about the dispute. According to a joint statement posted on Saudi state news agency SPA, the four countries agreed to a request by Kuwait to extend by 48 hours Sunday's deadline for compliance.
Authored by Ahmed Chari via The Strategic Culture Foundation,
Qatar has been known for years as a small peninsula nation that punches far above its weight. Its immense oil wealth and enormous influence, through its English- and Arabic-language Al Jazeera channels, have given it diplomatic clout across the Arab world. Its soft power has been felt in negotiations in Darfur, Tripoli, Sanaa and elsewhere. Everywhere it has been either admired or envied.
Two days ago, when previewing the showdown in the Qatar "diplomatic quagmire", we reminded readers that "Qatar only has until July 3 to comply with the 10-day ultimatum of 13 demands imposed by the Saudi-led bloc", a list which the Saudis described as non-negotiable, with Riyadh's foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir saying Doha must “amend its behavior” or “remain isolated."