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Al-Jazeera says closure demand is 'attempt to silence freedom of expression'

The nation’s foreign minister said today that the list of 13 demands given to his government is not reasonable.

AL-JAZEERA HAS accused Arab nations of trying to “silence the freedom of expression” in a list of demands they gave Qatar yesterday, threatening a ‘divorce’ from its neighbours if it does not comply.

The news organisation has been accused of stirring up regional strife and it has been a long-standing source of conflict between Doha and neighbouring countries. The government in Qatar has confirmed it received the list and that the 13 demands are currently being studied.

Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani told Al-Jazeera: “The US secretary of state recently called upon the blockading nations to produce a list of grievances that was ‘reasonable and actionable’. The British foreign secretary asked that the demands be ‘measured and realistic.’ This list does not satisfy that criteria.”

He claimed the demands were proof that sanctions against Qatar were “nothing to do with combating terrorism” and were more about limiting its sovereignty and outsourcing its foreign policy.

‘Like closing down the BBC’

Al-Jazeera said the call to close down the organisation is “nothing but an attempt to silence the freedom of expression in the region and to suppress people’s right to information”.

Its English’s managing director, Giles Trendle, said it was like “Germany demanding Britain to close down the BBC”, in a video posted on social media.

The list of 13 demands include calls for Doha to cut any ties to groups including the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamic State organisation, Al-Qaeda and Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah movement.

Qatar has also been asked to hand over opposition figures wanted by its three neighbours, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt, downgrade diplomatic ties with Iran and shut a Turkish military base in the emirate.

Qatar’s Human Rights Committee said the demands represented “gross violations” of basic rights.

In Qatar, the hashtag “the list is rejected” trended in Arabic on social media.

- With reporting from AFP.

Read: Qatar told to close Al-Jazeera and accept other demands or face ‘divorce’ from gulf neighbours>

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23 Comments
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    Mute FoxyBoiiYT
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    Dec 17th 2024, 3:11 PM

    The same people who want TikTok banned are happy with Twitter pushing lies and horribly hurtful content daily. Pot kettle

    38
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    Mute Daniel Skelton
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    Dec 17th 2024, 7:44 PM

    @FoxyBoiiYT: That cesspool equally needs to be gone just as much. I’d put a rush on that before Meta and TikToxic.

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    Mute Chris
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    Dec 17th 2024, 3:24 PM

    Just imagine Aountu would have won our elections in November being number 1 party with 23%. After having 3% in the polls for years. Exactly this happened in Romania with Georgescu.

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    Mute Frank Mc Carthy
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    Dec 17th 2024, 3:32 PM

    @Chris: peader tobiin was running in Romanian election?

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    Mute Maximilian Kolbe
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    Dec 17th 2024, 4:37 PM

    @Chris: same as people saying Kamala Harris was going to win half the swing states and it was going to be very close. Instead she airballed 7/7 and has to go back to her Israeli husband and find a new way to make money.

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    Mute Paul Whitehead
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    Dec 17th 2024, 10:59 PM

    @Frank Mc Carthy: In fairness he was impressive on the debate.

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    Mute 087 bed
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    Dec 17th 2024, 3:38 PM

    Tired old BS every time.

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    Mute honey badger
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    Dec 17th 2024, 4:27 PM

    A good time to remember that Ming, Funchion, & Boylan abstained (November 28th) on a motion in the EU parliament that expressed concern for whats happeninv in Georgia. Here’s some of what they thought was worth abstaining on:
    “whereas the pre-election period failed to meet democratic standards due to actions by the ruling Georgian Dream party and the authorities that fostered a climate of fear, including through the arrest, home raids and intimidation of opposition politicians, civil society leaders, journalists, researchers and other persons critical of the government, and violence committed against them…” “whereas the top leaders of the ruling party made public statements during the campaign expressing their intent to ban key opposition parties following the elections…” Madness.

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    Mute Oh Mammy
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    Dec 17th 2024, 10:20 PM

    This is never done if the desired result is achieved, interference or not.

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    Mute N.F. Court
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    Dec 17th 2024, 10:57 PM

    Re the article 2 or three down from this…who does the president think
    He’s talking about…? Completely ant i sem itic leadership in this country and has been for a long time!

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    Mute Paul Whitehead
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    Dec 17th 2024, 11:00 PM

    Where will I post my little dances of it is banned?

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    Mute Daniel Skelton
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    Dec 17th 2024, 7:46 PM

    Just ban it already, ffs.

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