沙特等國將卡塔爾復交最後期限延長48小時

Saudi Arabia and its allies involved in a prolonged diplomatic dispute with Qatar said Monday they would extend by 48 hours a deadline for Qatar to comply with their demands.

Kuwait, which has been trying to negotiate a peaceful end to the Gulf Arab states' blockade of Qatar, asked for the deadline extension Sunday, shortly before time for Qatar's reply to the Saudi-led coalition was due to expire.

A coordinated statement released early Monday by the state news agencies in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia confirmed the deadline had been extended until the end of Monday.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt severed diplomatic and commercial links with Qatar on June 5, accusing the government in Doha of supporting terrorism in an alliance with Iran.

Qatar has denied the accusations and said such charges are baseless. The small Gulf state's foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, has said the demands by the Saudis and their partners - including the withdrawal of Turkish troops in Qatar, closure of the Qatari-state-owned Al Jazeera news group and a downgrading of Qatar's relations with Iran - are impossible to meet without sacrificing Qatar's sovereignty.

Although Al Thani signaled the Saudis' demands were virtually certain to be rejected, Qatar has not yet formally responded to the Arab group.

Egypt said on Sunday the foreign ministers from the four boycotting countries would discuss the situation with Qatar in Cairo on Wednesday.

U.S. President Donald Trump discussed the situation by phone in separate calls Sunday with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Qatari Emir Tamin bin Hamad Al Thani and Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

A White House statement said Trump addressed his concerns about the dispute, and also stressed the importance of regional unity, stopping terrorist financing and discrediting extremist ideology.

The United States has supported Kuwait's attempt to mediate the Gulf Arabs' dispute. Washington has strong ties to both sides: the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet is berthed in Bahrain and a land base in Qatar is the largest U.S. military facility in the region. In addition, hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of pending arms deals between the United States and Saudi Arabia potentially could be affected by the outcome of the diplomatic dispute.陷入與卡塔爾曠日持久外交糾紛的沙特阿拉伯及其盟國星期一將卡塔爾接受復交條件的最後期限延長48小時。

一直談判遊說海灣地區阿拉伯國家和平結束對卡塔爾封鎖的科威特，星期天在沙特領導的聯盟下達的最後期限到來前要求將最後期限延長。

科威特和沙特阿拉伯的國家通訊社星期一凌晨發表了一份協調一致的聲明，證實最後期限已被延長。

沙特阿拉伯、阿聯酋、巴林和埃及6月5日切斷了與卡塔爾的外交和商業聯繫，指責卡塔爾政府與伊朗勾結支持恐怖主義。

卡塔爾對此予以否認，表示這些指控毫無根據。這個海灣小國的外交大臣塔尼曾表示，沙特及其盟國提出的要求，包括土耳其軍隊從卡塔爾撤離，關閉卡塔爾國有的半島電視臺，還有降低與伊朗的外交關係，除非犧牲卡塔爾的主權，否則是不可能實現的。

雖然塔尼暗示沙特阿拉伯的要求幾乎肯定會被拒絕，但卡塔爾還沒有正式作出答覆。

埃及星期天表示，四個抵制卡塔爾的國家將於星期三在開羅討論與卡塔爾的局勢。

美國總統川普星期天分別與沙特國王薩勒曼、卡塔爾埃米爾塔米姆和阿布扎比王儲納哈揚通了電話。

白宮的聲明說，川普表達了對這起外交糾紛的擔憂，他還表達了地區團結、制止恐怖分子籌集資金和打擊極端意識形態的重要性。

美國一直支持科威特調停海灣阿拉伯國家之間糾紛所做的努力。華盛頓與糾紛的雙方都有緊密聯繫，美國海軍第五艦隊的司令部在巴林，在卡塔爾的軍事基地是美軍在該地區最大的軍事設施。此外，美國與沙特阿拉伯的價值上千億美元軍售協議有可能會因這場外交危機受到影響。