Dhaka is anxiously monitoring a meeting of the foreign ministers from a Saudi-led quartet who were set to meet yesterday in Egypt to decide about the sanctions on Qatar.

A month ago on June 5, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt severed ties with Qatar and imposed a trade and diplomatic embargo, accusing Doha of supporting terrorism.

Diplomatic sources say the foreign ministers will discuss Doha's response, received on July 3, to their demands put forward as a prerequisite to end the standoff.

Contacted, Counsellor at Bangladesh Embassy in Cairo Shafiqur Rahman yesterday told The Daily Star the meeting was scheduled to begin at Egypt's foreign ministry.

“This is a decision making meeting,” he added.

A press conference was expected after the meeting.

“We have been closely monitoring the Qatar-Gulf crisis since June 5. We are anxiously looking forward for a peaceful solution because Bangladesh may be adversely affected if the crisis continues for long,” said another Bangladeshi diplomat posted in Saudi Arabia.

The diplomat added Bangladesh has very close relations with both KSA and Qatar as lakhs of Bangladeshi workers are working in the two gulf countries and the labourers send highest remittance from there.

Earlier on June 22, the four nations issued 13 wide-ranging demands and gave a 10-day ultimatum to comply with them or face unspecified consequences. They accuse Qatar of supporting extremism and of being too close to Saudi Arabia's regional arch-rival Iran, which Doha has strongly denied.

Another Bangladeshi diplomat serving in a Gulf country yesterday said Qatar has shown its goodwill by responding to the demands of the Saudi-led four countries and seems taken good initiative for a constructive solution through dialogue.