The UN voiced outrage on Friday at the demand from Gulf countries that Qatar-based broadcaster Al-Jazeera shut down, describing it as “an unacceptable attack on the right to freedom of expression and opinion.”
The closure of the broadcaster is one of 13 wide-ranging demands placed on Doha by Saudi Arabia and its allies as the price for lifting an almost month-long “blockade” on Qatar.
The four countries have given Qatar a 10-day deadline for implementation ending on July 4. UN rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein “is extremely concerned by the demand that Qatar close down the Al Jazeera network, as well as other affiliated media outlets,” his spokesman Rupert Colville told reporters.