Bahrain charges Qatar with ‘military escalation’

Bloomberg

Bahrain accused Qatar of a ‘military escalation’ of the crisis that has embroiled the Gulf region for the past three weeks, and warned there would be consequences.
While he didn’t identify Turkey by name, Foreign Minister Khalid Bin Ahmed Al Khalifa was apparently referring to the Turkish government’s decision earlier this month to accelerate legislation on the planned deployment of thousands of troops in Qatar. The disagreement with Qatar “is a political and security dispute and has never been military,” Al Khalifa said in a June 26 post on Twitter. “But the deployment of foreign armies and their armored vehicles is a military escalation for which Qatar will bear responsibility.”
Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Egypt severed air, sea and land links with Qatar earlier this month, saying it was isolating it over its ties with Iran and radical groups. Shortly after, the Turkish government fast-tracked a bill making a technical amendment to the April 2016 agreement on stationing Turkish troops in Qatar.
On Friday, the coalition handed Qatar a list of 13 demands to end the standoff. They include shutting down the state-sponsored Al-Jazeera TV network, whose coverage at times has outraged most Middle East nations; cutting back diplomatic ties with Iran; severing relations with the Muslim Brotherhood; and ending Turkey’s military presence in Qatar.
Qatar was given 10 days to respond. In response to the demands, government spokesman Saif Al Thani said the list ‘confirms what Qatar has said from the beginning — the illegal blockade has nothing do with combating terrorism, it is about limiting Qatar’s sovereignty, and outsourcing our foreign policy.” An official response to the demands would be forthcoming, he added.