Blacklist issued in Doha row

Russia is ready to help mediate in the crisis if asked, Lavrov says

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - Saudi Arabia and its allies unveiled a "terrorist" blacklist on Tuesday of 18 organizations and individuals suspected of links with extremism that they said had ties with regional rival Qatar.

The move by the four Arab governments came despite mounting international pressure to compromise in their weeks-old boycott of their fellow US ally.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt blacklisted nine charity and media organizations and nine individuals "directly or indirectly linked to Qatari authorities" as "terrorist", a joint statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency said.

"We expect Qatari authorities to take the next step and prosecute the terrorist groups and people," the statement added.

The four governments have been boycotting Qatar since June 5 in the region's worst diplomatic crisis in years.

They sealed the emirate's only land border, ordered its citizens to leave and closed their airspace and waters to Qatari flights and shipping.

They demanded that Qatar break its long-standing ties with the Muslim Brotherhood, blacklisted as a "terror group" by the four governments although not by the international community.

They also demanded that it close broadcasting giant Al-Jazeera and a Turkish military base, and fall in line with Saudi-led policy in the region, particularly toward Iran.

Qatar has dismissed the demands as a violation of its sovereignty.

Russia is ready to help mediate in the dispute if asked, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday.

"We are interested in this crisis being overcome, taking into account mutual concerns and finding solutions which will be acceptable for all participants of this process," Lavrov told the Kurdish television channel Rudaw, according to a transcript of the interview published on his ministry's website.

US mediation

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who this month spent four days in the region trying to broker a settlement of the crisis, has voiced satisfaction with Qatar's efforts to address any suspicion of terror funding.

The four governments on Tuesday blacklisted three organizations based in Yemen and six based in Libya accusing them of ties to al-Qaida.

They also blacklisted three Qataris, three Yemenis, two Libyans and a Kuwaiti they said were implicated in "fundraising campaigns to support al-Nusra Front and other terrorist militias".

Afp - Reuters - Xinhua

(China Daily 07/26/2017 page12)