BEIRUT -- Saudi Arabia and three other Arab countries that recently cut diplomatic ties with Qatar issued a harsh list of demands Friday, insisting that the wealthy but tiny Persian Gulf nation shut down the news broadcaster Al-Jazeera, abandon ties with Islamist organizations and provide detailed information about its funding for political dissidents.
Qatar insisted Friday it can indefinitely survive the economic and diplomatic steps its neighbors have taken to try to pressure it into compliance, even as a top Emirati official warned the country to brace for a long-term economic squeeze.
The demands, presented to Qatar through mediators from Kuwait, called on the country to shut down a Turkish military base and downgrade its ties with Iran -- a difficult task given that Iran and Qatar share a large gas field that provides much of Qatar's wealth.
The demands signaled an escalation in the deepest political crisis among Arab Gulf countries in years, after nations including Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates cut economic, diplomatic and travel ties with Qatar this month, accusing it of supporting terrorism.
Given 10 days to make a decision, Qatar did not immediately render judgment on the specific concessions demanded of it. But Qatari officials didn't budge from their previous insistence that they won't sit down with Saudi Arabia and other Arab nations to negotiate an end to the crisis while under siege.
"I can assure you that our situation today is very comfortable," Qatari Ambassador to the U.S. Meshal bin Hamad Al Thani said. "Qatar could continue forever like that with no problems."
Asked whether Qatar felt pressure to resolve the crisis quickly, he said: "Not at all."
Qatar's neighbors insisted the 13-point list of demands was their bottom line, not a starting point for negotiations. The Arab countries signaled that if Qatar refuses to comply, they will continue to restrict its access to land, sea and air routes indefinitely amid mounting economic pressure on the Gulf nation.
"The measures that have been taken are there to stay until there is a long-term solution to the issue," said Yousef al-Otaiba, ambassador to the U.S. from the United Arab Emirates.
Still, he suggested the penalties would only be economic and diplomatic, adding, "There is no military element to this whatsoever."
The demands from Qatar's neighbors amount to a call for a sweeping overhaul of Qatar's foreign policy and natural gas-funded influence peddling in the region. Complying would force Qatar to bring its policies in line with the regional vision of Saudi Arabia, the Middle East's biggest economy and gatekeeper of Qatar's only land border.
Al-Jazeera, one of the Arab world's most widely watched satellite news channels, denounced the demand for its closure as an attack on journalism. In a statement posted on its website, Al-Jazeera said the Saudis and their partners were trying to "silence the freedom of expression in the region and to suppress people's right to information and the right to be heard."
All of the nations involved are U.S. allies, and Qatar and Bahrain host large U.S. military bases. Analysts have accused President Donald Trump's administration of sending mixed signals, exacerbating the rift.
After the Arab nations announced that they were cutting ties with Qatar, Trump posted his support on Twitter and even suggested he had been responsible for the move.
But that did not stop his administration from signing a previously approved deal for Qatar to buy $12 billion of U.S. F-15 fighter jets.
Though the demands include conditions that Qatar already has insisted it would never meet, the list answers the growing call from the United States and from Qatar for the countries to put their grievances in writing.
As the crisis has dragged on, U.S. diplomats have complained privately that the Arab nations were taking too long to present their demands, and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said they must be "reasonable and actionable."
That call appeared to have been roundly ignored, and the list sidestepped U.S. negotiating efforts.
"This is an Arab issue that requires an Arab solution," Otaiba said. "That's why the Kuwaitis will take the lead in the negotiation."
That's just fine, the U.S. said. At the White House, spokesman Sean Spicer called it a "family issue" for the Arab nations and declined to say whether the newly articulated demands were legitimate.
"This is something that they want to and should work out for themselves," Spicer said.
Qatar has historically played a maverick role in the Gulf Cooperation Council, a regional group that also includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. It maintains ties with a range of Islamist groups throughout the region, relationships that other countries have found useful when negotiating hostage releases but have complained about when those groups challenge their rule.
Qatar has also opened its doors to members of the Muslim Brotherhood, which Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates consider a terrorist organization; to members of Hamas, the Palestinian militant group; and to the Afghan Taliban. It has also financed Al-Jazeera, which is often critical of Qatar's rivals.
Those stances have rankled others in the region, like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. And Qatar's support for the Arab Spring uprisings and for the Muslim Brotherhood have angered countries including Egypt.
Other nations, like Turkey, have stood up for Qatar.
The Turkish defense minister, Fikri Isik, rejected the demand that Qatar close the Turkish military base and suggested that Turkey would enhance its presence there as a show of support.
"Strengthening the Turkish base would be a positive step in terms of the Gulf's security," he said, according to Reuters. "Re-evaluating the base agreement with Qatar is not on our agenda."
Information for this article was contributed by Ben Hubbard of The New York Times; and by Adam Schreck, Josh Lederman and Suzan Fraser of The Associated Press.
A Section on 06/24/2017