Page 10 - ARUBA TODAY

A10 WORLD NEWS
Tuesday 4 July 2017
Qatar crisis deadline extended by 2 days as nation responds

By MAGGIE HYDE as the two countries share
JON GAMBRELL a massive offshore natural
Associated Press gas field.
DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Arab The quartet of countries first
nations isolating Qatar ex- restricted Qatar’s access
tended a deadline Mon- to their airspace and ports,
day for the energy rich while sealing its only land
country to respond to their border, which it shares with
demands by another 48 Saudi Arabia. They later is-
hours, allowing its top diplo- sued a 13-point list of de-
mat to carry a handwritten mands on June 22 to end
response to Kuwait’s ruler in the standoff and gave Qa-
an effort to end the diplo- tar 10 days to comply.
matic crisis. Early on Monday morning
Whether another two days after the deadline expired,
will be enough to end the the countries said they
crisis, however, may be a would give Qatar another
stretch. 48 hours after a request by
Saudi Arabia, the United Kuwait’s 88-year-old ruler,
Arab Emirates, Egypt and Sheikh Sabah Al Sabah. The
Bahrain already have emir has been trying to me-
plans to meet in Cairo on diate an end to the crisis, as
Wednesday as the dead- Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, left, and Kuwaiti Foreign he did in a similar dispute in
line expires to discuss their Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al Sabah, right, walk together on an airport tarmac, on Al Thani’s 2014.
next moves. arrival in Kuwait. Qatar’s foreign minister, carrying a handwritten letter from the country’s ruling “The response of the four
Meanwhile, Qataris signed emir arrived in Kuwait amid a diplomatic crisis engulfing his nation. (KUNA via AP) states will then be sent fol-
a wall bearing a black- lowing the study of the Qa-
stencil likeness of their ruler, that they won’t allow other lomatic ties to Qatar over ist groups and has overly tari government’s response
Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad nations to dictate their for- their allegations that the warm ties to Iran. Qatar and assessment of its re-
Al Thani, as officials in the eign policy. world’s top producer of long has denied funding sponse to the whole de-
host country of the 2022 The crisis began June 5, as liquefied natural gas uses terrorists, while it maintains mands,” the countries said
FIFA World Cup maintain the countries cut off dip- its wealth to fund extrem- communication with Iran in a statement.q

Syrian military declaring

cease-fire ahead of talks

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) al reconciliation.”
— The Syrian military said Delegates are expected to
Monday it has temporarily begin meeting with a U.N.
halted combat operations mediator and other diplo-
in the south ahead of Rus- mats in Astana on July 4.
sian-sponsored cease-fire Syrian Deputy Foreign Min-
talks with the rebels. ister Faisal Mekdad mean-
The announcement came while questioned the credi-
after a large Syrian rebel bility of the Organization for
faction in the south said it the Prohibition of Chemical
would not attend the talks Weapons, saying the in-
in the Kazakh capital, As- spectors had failed to visit
tana, because the govern- key sites linked to a nerve
ment was not abiding by gas attack that killed 89
previous cease-fire agree- people.
ments. Mekdad dismissed an
The two sides have held OPCW report released last
four previous rounds of week confirming the use of
talks in Kazakhstan since sarin gas on the opposition-
January in parallel to U.N.- held town of Khan Sheik-
brokered peace talks in houn in April. He said the
Geneva. Neither process inspectors refused govern-
has made much progress. ment invitations to visit the
A cease-fire declared in site of the attack in north-
May, which is built around ern Syria or the military air-
so-called “de-escalation port allegedly linked to it.
zones,” has been repeat- The report, which drew on
edly violated. samples taken to Turkey,
The military announce- did not say who was re-
ment, carried on Syrian sponsible for the attack.
state media, said the pres- The results will be turned
ent pause would run un- over to a joint commission
til July 6, to “support the with the U.N. to apportion
peace process and nation- blame.q