Saudia, UAE, Bahrain and Egypt give Qatar an ultimatium of 13 points

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt handed Qatar a lists of demands which have to be fulfuilled within 10 days, or the four countries will continue their blockade and boycot of the Emirate. The list comes down to an ultimatum and does not sound realistic at all, as what the four are asking comes down to a complete surrender. Qatar has to give up its own foreign policy line and start to submit completely the the lines set by the rest of the Gulf and, in the first place, Saudi Arabia. It has to get rid of its poliy of relative free speech and feedom of movement (relative to the lack of such policies in the other four countries). The only merit of the demands is the provision that Qatar has to cut its (supposedly continuing) ties with ISIL and al Nusra. But at the other hand can be said that Qatar's role in supporting these and other terrorist groups dwarfs in comparison to those of Saudi Arabia. And then we did not even mention the war in Yemen, which is led by the Saudis and where the UAE just a day ago was exposed as torturing prisoners of war on a large scale.    
 Qatar has not answered yet. But eralier this week it's foreign minister, sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al Thani, said this Monday that Qatar will not negotiate unless the measures the four countries installed against the Emirate earlier this month, are lifted.
  
The list of demands: 

S-Arabia, UAE and Bahrain withdraw their ambassadors from Qatar

Update Thursday: Also Egypt will not return its ambassador to Qatar, a move that looks to further diplomatically isolate the Gulf state on the same day that three other Arab countries withdrew their Qatari ambassadors. Nasr Kamel, an aide to Egypt's foreign ministry, said that the ambassador – who has been in Egypt since early February – will not be returned for political reasons.
Kamel said the decision was in protest over Qatari intervention in the Egypt's internal affairs and for not handing over Egyptians wanted by prosecutors on criminal charges. He added that that Qatar has been broadcasting false information regarding developments in Egypt, a reference to the Qatari-owned Al-Jazeera news channel. Egypt is currently prosecuting 20 journalists working for Al-Jazeera English, including four foreigners.(End of Update)
Saudi Arabia,the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain withdrew their ambassadors from Qatar on Wednesday in an unprecedented public split between Gulf Arab allies who have fallen out over the role of Islamists in a region in turmoil. 

Poet who 'insulted' emir of Qatar sees life sentence reduced

Ajami

The Qatari poet Muhammad Ibn al-Dheeb al-Ajami,jailed for life for criticising the emir and attempting to incite revolt, had his sentence cut to 15 years on Monday.In his verses Ajami praised the Arab Spring revolts that toppled four dictators, often with the help of money and other support from Qatar, a close U.S. ally which also backs rebels in Syria. But Ajami also criticised Qatar's absolute monarch and spoke, for example, of "sheikhs playing on their PlayStations".
He was sentenced to life in prison three months ago. In the appeal he argued he should be freed as there was no evidence that he had recited the offending verses in public and so no basis for charging him with incitement. His term was reduced on Monday to 15 years. Al-Ajami shouted "There is no law for this" as he was led away by guards from Qatar's court of appeal. Defence lawyer Najib al-Naimi said the poet would now appeal to the supreme court, describing the unanimous decision by the three-judge appeal court as a miscarriage of justice.

Qatari poet gets life sentence for 'Jasmine' poem

A life sentence handed today to a Qatari poet has all the hallmarks of an outrageous betrayal of free speech, Amesty International has said.  Mohammed al-Ajami, also known as Mohammed Ibn al-Dheeb, was tried on charges of incitement “to overthrow the ruling system”, and “insulting the Amir”.He was arrested in November 2011 following the publication of his “Jasmine Poem”, which broadly criticized governments across the Gulf region, saying “we are all Tunisia in the face of the repressive elite”.

Mohammed al-Ajami

 “It is deplorable that Qatar, which likes to paint itself internationally as a country that promotes freedom of expression, is indulging in what appears to be such a flagrant abuse of that right,” said Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Director.A copy of the verdict obtained by Amnesty International makes no reference to the reasons for such a harsh sentence, but the organization understands that the charges on which he was convicted were based on the content of his poetry.
“All the information available points to Mohammed al-Ajami being a prisoner of conscience who has been placed behind bars solely for his words. Accordingly, he should be released immediately and his conviction quashed,” said Philip Luther.
The verdict has sent out shock waves among activists in Qatar and the Gulf region, who have told Amnesty International that the sentence feels like a threat to them all. 
Qatar is the headquarters of media organization Al-Jazeera, which has won plaudits for its reports on uprisings throughout the region in the last two years. However, Qatar has strictly controlled press freedoms and freedom of expression with regard to criticism of its own government.
Observers were not allowed to enter the court, and al-Ajami himself was not present at the sentencing.  He is expected to appeal.

WaPo: Syrian rebels do better with weapons from S-Arabia and Qatar, delivered with US-help

 Syrian rebels with at the background a convoy of the Syrian army that they have destroyed in Rastan in the west of Syria. (WaPo) The rebels have become more successful lately because they received better arms.


Syrian rebel troops have been more successful in their attacks on government troops lately because they received more and better arms which were paid for by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other Gulf countries, according to an article in the  Washington Post. 
The article mentioned that the deliveries are partly co-ordinated by the United States. The WaPo:

Opposition activists who two months ago said the rebels were running out of ammunition said this week that the flow of weapons — most still bought on the black market in neighboring countries or from elements of the Syrian military — has significantly increased after a decision by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other gulf states to provide millions of dollars in funding each month.

Syria’s Muslim Brotherhood also said it has opened its own supply channel to the rebels, using resources from wealthy private individuals and money from gulf states, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar, said Mulham al-Drobi, a member of the Brotherhood’s executive committee.

Iran, for its part, continues to deliver arms to the Syrian government army, in violation of a UN Security Council ban on weapons exports by the Islamic Republic. This was revealed in a confidential report by experts that monitor the sanctions for the UN Security Council, which was leaked to Reuters news agency shortly after the above article appeared in the Washington Post. However, the weapons were intercepted and never reached Syria. The report described three arms shipments, two to Syria and intercepted by Turkey, and a third shipment of rockets  for the Taliban in Afghanistan. The two shipments to Syria contained assault rifles, machine guns, explosives, detonators, 60mm and 120mm mortal shells and other items, but were intercepted by Turkey, the last one of the two in February.