Saudi Arabia to keep pressuring Qatar to meet Arab-bloc demands

Riyadh: Saudi Arabia on Sunday said it would keep pressuring Qatar until demands by a bloc of Arab states are met, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said.

The bloc`s 13 demands include Doha ending its alleged support for Islamist extremist groups, closing a Turkish military base in the emirate and downgrading diplomatic ties with Tehran, Xinhua reported.

Qatar "must respond to these requests in order to open a new page", Jubeir said.

The Saudi move came just two days after US President Donald Trump spoke with the leaders of Saudi Arabia and Qatar in a bid to mediate.

The Saudi and Qatari rulers spoke by phone on Saturday, raising hope for talks.

But Riyadh later suspended the dialogue, accusing Doha of distorting facts by wrongly implying that Saudi Arabia had initiated the outreach.