A UAE minister says Emirates sought ‘fundamental change and restructuring’ and not shutting down Al Jazeera.

Media watchdogs, human rights groups and prominent commentators have condemned the demand to close Al Jazeera [Sorin Furcoi/Al Jazeera]

by Al Jazeera

Saudi Arabia and three other Arab countries that have imposed a political and economic blockade on Qatar are to drop their demand that the Al Jazeera Media Network be shut down.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt imposed a land, sea and air blockade on Qatar on June 5.

The anti-Doha quartet then issued a 13-point list of demands that included shutting down Al Jazeera Media Network, severing all ties with the Muslim Brotherhood and with other groups, including Hezbollah, al-Qaeda and ISIL (also known as ISIS), limiting Qatar’s ties with Iran and expelling Turkish troops stationed in the country.

In an interview published by The Times newspaper on Wednesday, Noura al-Kaabi, the UAE minister for the federal national council, said the Emirates sought “fundamental change and restructuring” of Al Jazeera rather than to shut it.

“The staff at the channel can keep their jobs and Qatar can still fund a TV channel but not one which provides a platform for extremists and where the English channel is a protective shield for the much more radical Arabic one,” Kaabi told The Times.

She also said that the Saudi-led group was ready to negotiate with Qatar.

“We need a diplomatic solution. We are not looking for an escalation.”

The group previously called the list of demands “non-negotiable”.

In response to the concessions expressed by the UAE minister, Al Jazeera Media Network rejected outside intervention.

“Al Jazeera Media Network rejects any external intervention pertaining to its organisational structure or journalistic mission, and reiterates its independence & professional editorial stance,” the Network said in a statement.

“Al Jazeera continues to stand by journalists and media institutions globally for their right to practise journalism without fear or intimidation. One of the cornerstones of free media is ensuring its ability to operate independently, without interference or censorship from governments or any other party.

“Over the past 20 years, Al Jazeera has demonstrated its editorial independence and refusal to bow down to pressures from anyone, serving as a testament to our commitment to the universal values of journalism.

“It’s clear that recent attempts by governments in the region and elsewhere to throttle the independence of the media is being met by condemnation by all international media institutions, with an urgent demand for an end to interference, intimidation, and threats.

Press freedom and human rights advocates, journalists and social media users from all over the world condemned the demand by the Saudi-led group to shut down Al Jazeera and other media outlets in Qatar, calling it “unacceptable”.

“We are really worried about the implication and consequences of such requirements if they will ever be implemented,” Alexandra El Khazen, head of the Middle East and North Africa desk at Reporters Without Borders, said last month.

Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of the Middle East and North Africa Division at Human Rights Watch, called the Saudi-led group’s demand “absurd”.

“This is just an attempted expansion of the cowardly censorship they have inflicted on their own citizens, but it will fail,” said Whitson.

The Guardian newspaper, in an editorial published last month, said the demand was “wrong”, “ridiculous” and “must be resisted”, joining the growing chorus of voices raising concerns about suppression of press freedom in the Gulf.

Republican says Saudi crown prince may have made ‘rookie mistake’ over Qatar blockade, as diplomatic efforts continue.

Corker has previously threatened to block US arms sales to the GCC until there was a clear path for settling the dispute [AFP]

by Al Jazeera

An influential US Republican senator has criticised the Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, over a blockade on Qatar by the kingdom and three other Arab states.

The comments by Bob Corker, chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, came as tensions in the region continue over the crisis, with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson expected to make an unscheduled stop in Doha on Thursday.

“The amount of support for terrorism by Saudi Arabia dwarfs what Qatar is doing,” Corker said on Wednesday.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Egypt cut ties with Qatar on June 5 and imposed a land, air and sea blockade on the country.

The quartet accuse Qatar of funding “terrorism”, an accusation Qatar rejects as “baseless”.

Corker said he was “really disappointed to see what Saudi Arabia did after having a great summit and bringing everybody together”, referring to May’s Riyadh conference that saw leaders of the GCC and other Arab states meet US President Donald Trump.

“I think this is quite possibly a rookie mistake by a crown prince who I think could be the future for Saudi Arabia,” Corker added.

The Tennessee senator made the comments while addressing the former US ambassador to Israel during a legislative committee hearing.

Al Jazeera’s Heidi Zhou-Castro, reporting from Washington, DC, said the Saudi crown prince is “widely seen as among the blockade’s chief architects and a chief organiser of the alliance behind it”.

She said that Corker has been among the blockade’s strongest US critics, adding that the senator has threatened to block weapons sales to members of the GCC until there was a clear path for settling the dispute.

Andreas Krieg, an assistant professor at King’s College London, told Al Jazeera that Corker’s comments are a lot to take in for the Saudi-led group.

“Saudi Arabia actually thought they had the Trump administration, especially the Republicans, on their side,” Krieg said. “That’s why they escalated so quickly and now they realise they actually don’t and the Trump administration has actually rolled back from earlier comments, and that is quite something to swallow for the UAE and Saudi Arabia.”

Tillerson’s Gulf visit

Corker’s comments came as Tillerson wrapped up the third leg of his four-day trip to the Gulf aimed at helping solve the GCC crisis.

Having shuttled between Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia in an effort to help solve the GCC crisis, Tillerson is set to make an unexpected return to Doha on Thursday before returning to the United States.

On Wednesday, Tillerson met the Saudi king, crown prince and his counterparts from the Saudi-led quartet.

The Jeddah visit followed meetings in Doha with the Qatari emir and foreign minister on Tuesday.

Tillerson told reporters that the Qatari government had “reasonable” views during the crisis.

“I think Qatar has been quite clear in its positions, and I think those have been very reasonable,” he said.

Tillerson and the Qatari foreign minister also announced that the US and Qatar had signed an agreement on combating “terrorism” and its financing during the visit.

Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said the memorandum of understanding was not related to the current dispute.

But Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and the UAE called the agreement “insufficient” and the result of “repeated calls” from the Saudi-led group over the past few years.