Qatar's ruler said Friday that the Gulf emirate is ready for talks to resolve diplomatic crisis with Saudi-led bloc so long as his country's sovereignty is respected.

Qatar's ruler has amended the country's anti-terrorism laws in a royal decree issued on Thursday, state news agency QNA reported, in a move that appears aimed at countering charges the Gulf Arab state supports terrorism.

Qatar will not negotiate with its neighbors to resolve the Gulf dispute unless they first lift the trade and travel boycott they imposed two weeks ago, its foreign minister said, but added Doha still believed a solution was possible.

The US has set the stage for a fresh armed conflict ready to burst at any time in the Gulf, following the rift between Qatar and other Gulf and Arab countries.

A senior United Arab Emirates (UAE) official said international monitoring was needed in the standoff between Qatar and its Arab neighbors, adding he saw signs that the pressure exerted on Doha "was working".

Qatar said on Monday that a U.S. media report had shown that the United Arab Emirates was involved in an alleged hack of Qatar's state news agency in late May that helped spark a diplomatic crisis in the Gulf.

Egypt is standing by the list of demands it and three Gulf Arab countries made of Qatar and will keep sanctions against Doha in place, Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told his Kuwaiti counterpart on Monday.

France called on Saturday for a swift lifting of sanctions that target Qatari nationals in an effort to ease a month-long rift between the Gulf country and several of its neighbors.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson left Qatar on Thursday after a tour of Gulf Arab countries aimed at easing the worst regional dispute in years, saying he made proposals that would help in resolving the month-long crisis.

The United States and Qatar signed an agreement on Tuesday aimed at combating the financing of terrorism, as U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson visited Doha to try to end a month-long rift between Western-allied Arab states.

If Qatar submits to the 13 unprecedented demands that Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt have made, it will cease to exist as a nation state, highlights Robert Fisk.

Qatar made a series of secret agreements with its Gulf neighbors in 2013 and 2014 barring support for opposition and hostile groups in those nations, as well as in Egypt and Yemen.

More than a month since the start of the diplomatic crisis gripping the Gulf, hopes of a swift resolution seem as remote as a summer downpour in the desert.

At dusk, young Qataris gather outside the house of a ruling family member in Doha to sign a portrait of Qatar's emir mounted on a giant billboard.

Qatar on Friday dismissed as "baseless" accusations that it was financing terrorism, in its first public response to a statement from four Arab states which are leading a boycott against the tiny emirate.

Deputy Secretary-General of Al-Menbar Islamic Society (Muslim Brotherhood) Nasser Al-Fadala broke his silence and criticized the stance of some Gulf governments towards the Qatari row.

Qatar expressed its regret over the statements made by the four “siege countries” and said it contains “false accusations”. Qatar said in a statement on Friday (July 7, 2017) that “statement of siege countries has false accusations and defamation against the stable foundations of relations between nations”.

Qatar announced plans for a steep rise in Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) production capacity on Tuesday that suggested it was ready for a protracted dispute with Gulf neighbors, but Doha said it was doing all it could to reach agreement.

Why the need to make such efforts to desperately “expose” Qatar, when the BICI report had already addressed in 2011 the fact that Qatar attempted to play the role of the mediator in the political crisis in Bahrain.

U.S. President Donald Trump spoke separately to the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and Qatar on Sunday to discuss his "concerns about the ongoing dispute" between Qatar and its Gulf and Arab neighbors, the White House said.