Al-Jazeera, the Qatar-based broadcaster that has found itself at the centre of the Gulf diplomatic crisis, was launched in 1996, and has since grown to become the most-watched TV channel in the Arab world. Qatar has been given 10 days to meet the demands, which apparently include a call to close down broadcaster al-Jazeera, but Doha said the requests were unrealistic. Qatar on Saturday denounced a sweeping list of demands from Saudi Arabia and its allies in an escalating Gulf diplomatic crisis as unreasonable and an impingement on the emirate’s sovereignty. Al-Jazeera has denied this shows it supports extremism and said it is “not partisan to any ideology, group or government”. Now Saudi Arabia has demanded Qatar close down the broadcaster as part of a threatening 13-point ultimatum as the price for lifting a two-week trade and diplomatic embargo.

Source: Dhaka Tribune June 24, 2017 19:07 UTC