Saudi Arabia and its allies raised the stakes in their standoff with Qatar yesterday, giving the small Gulf state ten days to shut down Al-Jazeera and curb its ties with Iran or face unspecified consequences.

The coalition of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UAE and Egypt presented Qatar with a list of 13 wide-ranging demands, including calls for it to expel Turkish military forces from its territory and sever all connections with the Muslim Brotherhood.

The ultimatum said Qatar must also pay reparations to its neighbours, hand over fugitives wanted by other Middle Eastern states and immediately cease financing terrorists groups like Hizbollah and Al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate.

Qatar has said it would not negotiate while the four Arab countries were imposing an economic and diplomatic blockade, which began two weeks ago and has left the small state physically and politically isolated from the rest of the Gulf.