Arab quartet says U.S.-Qatari MoU to fight terror "not enough"

Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-12 05:59:31|Editor: Mu Xuequan
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DUBAI, July 11 (Xinhua) -- The United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt on Tuesday said that a memorandum of understanding (MoU) of fighting terror is "not enough" and the sanction on Qatar still remain, said a joint statement published by UAE news agency WAM.

On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson signed in Doha with his Qatari counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani the MoU to stop supporting terrorism.

"The four nations value the efforts being made by the United States to counter terrorism and dry up sources of terror finance," the statement said.

The Saudi-led bloc which cut diplomatic ties with fellow Qatar on June 5, said they believe "the MoU came as a result of repeated pressures and demands over the past years to stop supporting terrorism."

However, the quartet stressed that such a step is "not enough" and they will closely monitor the seriousness of Qatar in combating all forms of funding, supporting and fostering of terrorism.

"Qatar should completely and finally stop these activities and implement the list of 13 fair and legitimate demands, in addition to any demands that the four nations may later announce," the quartet said.

Among the 13 demands by the Arab bloc are the closure of Qatar's government-controlled TV news channel Al Jazeera, the termination of a Turkish military base in Qatar and the severance of ties with Iran.

The statement claimed that "the Qatari authorities have consistently negated all their agreements and commitments, including the Riyadh Agreement in 2013, which triggered the withdrawal of ambassadors from Doha."

The ambassadors returned after Qatar signed the supplementary agreement in 2014.

"However, Doha has continued to meddle in the internal affairs of states, and has incited, colluded and harbored terrorists, funded terror operations, and spread messages of hatred and extremism," said the statement.

The four nations affirmed that the said "measures" will remain in place until the Qatari authorities commit themselves "to fully implement these fair demands, which seek to counter terrorism and realize stability and security in the region."

The four Arab nations have implemented a sea, land and air embargo against Qatar since June 6 and expelled all Qatari citizens from their countries, with the exception of those being granted an exception due to family relations with nationals on humanitarian reasons.

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