DOHA: A deadline was approaching on Sunday for Qatar to accept a series of demands made by several Arab states to lift a de facto blockade, with no indications Doha was ready to comply.Qatar’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said on Saturday that the 13 demands from Saudi Arabia and several of its allies were designed to be spurned. "The list of demands is made to be rejected, "Sheikh Mohammed said.“Everyone is aware that these demands are meant to infringe the sovereignty of the state of Qatar,” he said at a news conference in Rome after meeting his Italian counterpart. The crisis has raised concerns of growing instability in the region, home to some of the world’s largest energy producers and several key Western allies hosting US military facilities.On June 22 the Arab states presented a list of demands and gave Doha 10 days to comply. The ultima-tum is expected to expire at the end of the day on Sunday, though the deadline has not been officially confirmed.Riyadh and its supporters have already severed air, sea and ground links with Qatar, cutting off vital routes for imports including food. Qatari citizens were ordered to leave the countries and various steps were taken against Qatari companies and financial institutions.It is unclear what further measures will be taken if Qatar fails to meet the demands, but the UAE am-bassador to Russia Omar Ghobash warned last week that further sanctions could be imposed.

Source: Economic Times July 02, 2017 13:55 UTC