Cairo - Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain will meet Wednesday in Cairo to decide whether to continue sanctions imposed on Qatar on accusations it was aiding terrorism and courting regional rival Iran, in the worst diplomatic crisis to hit the region in years. The Arab states, which accuse Qatar of supporting extremism, gave Doha an extra 48 hours to meet their demands after an initial 10-day deadline expired Sunday. Qatar said Tuesday that their demands were impossible to meet, as a deadline was fast approaching for the emirate to respond. Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammad bin Abdulrahman al-Thani told a news conference in Doha that the list of demands from countries isolating Qatar "is unrealistic and is not actionable." "It's not about terrorism, it's talking about shutting down the freedom of speech," he said at a joint news conference after talks with German counterpart Sigmar Gabriel. Sheikh Mohammad Monday handed an official response to Kuwait, which is mediating in the dispute, but its contents have not been disclosed. He refused to give any further details Tuesday, but said Doha was looking for a solution to the month-long crisis based on dialogue. "The state of Qatar has adopted a very constructive attitude since the beginning of the crisis. We are trying to act mature and discuss the matter," he added. Qatar, which denies any support for extremists, has said it will not bow to pressure and that the demands seem designed to be rejected.
