Gulf crisis: Qatar FM in Kuwait to respond to demands

Agencies
July 4, 2017

Kuwait, Jul 4: Qatar has delivered its response to a list of 13 demands from Saudi Arabia and three other Arab countries that cut have ties with it and imposed a land, air and sea embargo amid a major diplomatic crisis.Gulf

Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Qatar's foreign minister, 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.

Kuwait is mediating in the dispute. The content of the letter has not been released.

Qatar's response will be the focus of a gathering in the Egyptian capital of Cairo on Wednesday of foreign ministers from the four blockading countries: Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.

Al Jazeera's Saad al-Saeedi, reporting from Kuwait City, said there was "a sense of relief, tinged with caution" in Kuwait.

"Qatar's response to the demands was handed to the emir, followed by an extensive meeting between the Qatari foreign minister and his Kuwaiti counterpart for more than one and half hours. After that, the Qatari foreign minister headed to the emir of Kuwait's residence to attend another meeting over lunch before his departure," he said.

"The meetings reflect Kuwait's intense activity at the highest levels, from the emir down. Some sources suggest that the Kuwaiti foreign minister will join the four countries meeting in Cairo on Wednesday," Saeedi added.

"It is clear that a breakthrough is being achieved; that some of the demands could be addressed."

'Different strategy required'

The four countries 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.

Sultan Barakat, director of the Centre for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies at the Doha Institute, said it had become clear that the initial action by the Saudi-led group had not been effective.

"The fact that most international capitals have not supported the move is a very good indication to Saudi Arabia and UAE that a different strategy is now required," he told Al Jazeera.

"The best way forward is to go back to the Gulf council and tackle the issue from within the arrangement and framework that exists."

Qatar's foreign minister has already said that Doha would not meet the demands, saying the list "was meant to be rejected".

Speaking on Saturday, the foreign minister said Doha offered instead "a proper condition for a dialogue" to resolve the Gulf crisis.

US President Donald Trump spoke separately with leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi late on Sunday.

He "underscored that unity in the region is critical to accomplishing the Riyadh summit's goals of defeating terrorism and promoting regional stability", the White House said.

              

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Agencies
March 1,2020

Paris, Mar 1: Most of the riders and teams taking part in the abandoned UAE Tour, and who had been quarantined in their Abu Dhabi hotels since Thursday after a coronavirus scare, were cleared to leave the country, sources said.

"The pleasure of going home after several days spent at the hotel," tweeted 2018 world champion Alejandro Valverde, one of the top stars of the race along with Chris Froome, the four-time winner of the Tour de France.

"We are doing well and soon we will fly to Spain."

However, there was confusion over how many competitors and officials will be allowed to leave.

All 133 cyclists who were still in contention as well as team members were tested after it was announced by organisers Thursday that two Italian staff members on the race had tested positive for the COVID-19 virus.

Earlier Saturday, the UAE Tour, quoting health officials, said that 167 people had been tested and all were negative.

The Department of Health-Abu Dhabi were "still monitoring the condition of the remaining cases of contacts, whose lab testing findings will be available in the next few hours."

The UAE Tour cancelled its last two stages on Thursday after the coronavirus cases were confirmed.

Danish cyclist Michael Morkov of the Deceuninck-Quick-Step team, who took part in the first four stages, was placed in isolation in his hotel room after arriving in Berlin to take part in the world track championships.

However, on Saturday, he too was cleared to take part.

"The rider present in Berlin is currently in excellent health, with no suspicious clinical signs, and we are also guaranteed that he has not contacted the two members of the management of a team participating in the UAE Tour, originally suspected of coronavirus," governing body UCI said in a statement.

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News Network
April 20,2020

Sharjah, Apr 20: Air Arabia announced on Monday it will operate new repatriation flights from four cities in India to Sharjah carrying UAE nationals back home.

The special flights will operate from Mumbai and Delhi to Sharjah International Airport on April 20 while special flights will operate from Kochi and Hyderabad to Sharjah International Airport on April 22.

Air Arabia remains committed to bring stranded citizens back home as well as supporting requests to operate repatriation flights and is working closely with UAE authorities in this regard, the airline said.

Air Arabia announced earlier that it’s operating a mix of repatriation flights as well as cargo flights during the month of April to multiple destinations.

Further information about the repatriation and cargo flights is available on the website or can be obtained by contacting the Air Arabia call centre on 06 5580000 or respective travel agent.

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Agencies
January 11,2020

Muscat, Jan 11: Oman's Sultan Qaboos bin Said has died, Aljazeera reported citing state television on Friday.

Qaboos was 79-year-old and was ill for a long time. He has served as the ruler of Oman since 1970 when he ousted his father in a bloodless coup.

Qaboos had no children and has not publicly named his successor.

Sultan Qaboos travelled to Belgium for a week in December for what was described then as "medical checks." He returned to Oman but speculations of his deteriorating health were rife.

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