Qatar has handed its official response to a list of demands by Saudi Arabia and its allies to the emir of Kuwait, a Gulf official told AFP.
The response was delivered by Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani who made a short visit to Kuwait, which is acting as a mediator to resolve the diplomatic rift, the official said, requesting anonymity.
The official KUNA news agency reported that Sheikh Mohammed arrived in Kuwait earlier in the day to deliver a message from Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani.
No details were provided about the Qatari response but the foreign minister said on Saturday that the demands "were made to be rejected."
Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates agreed to extend by 48 hours Sunday's deadline for Doha to comply with a list of 13 demands which they were presented with on 22 June.
The demands include ending Qatar's support for the Muslim Brotherhood, the closure of Al-Jazeera television, a downgrade of diplomatic ties with Iran and the shutdown of a Turkish military base in the emirate.
The states cut ties with Qatar on 5 June, accusing it of supporting terrorism, meddling in their internal affairs and having links to regional adversary Iran, all of which Qatar denies.
The Kuwaiti government, which is mediating in the dispute, had requested the extension following Qatar's announcement that it was due to hand over its response to the emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, today.
The four countries indicated in their statement that they would study and evaluate Qatar's response before delivering their own reply to Kuwait.
Qatar has so far indicated that it rejects the demands.
"The list of demands is made to be rejected," Sheikh Al-Thani said Saturday in Rome.
"The state of Qatar... is rejecting it as a principle," he said, adding: "We are willing to engage in providing the proper conditions for further dialogue."
