Qatar's neighbours are plotting to topple its emir, the country's defence minister Khalid al Attiyah told Sky News.

According to him, Qatar is ready to protect itself if necessary, as the deadline imposed by neighbouring countries to meet their demands was extended for 48 hours.

“I hope we don't come to a stage where a military intervention is made but we always stand ready,” he said.

Khalid al Attiyah noted that history has proved that Qatar was not an easy country to be “swallowed up”. 

Earlier that Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and the UAE had announced that they broke diplomatic ties with Qatar, condemning Doha of supporting terrorist organizations and destabilizing the situation in the Middle East. 

Later, the authorities of Libya, Yemen, Maldives, Mauritius, Mauritania, and The Comoros also informed that they were severing relations with Qatar.

Recently Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain have sent Doha a list of 13 demands, including closing Al Jazeera television, reducing ties to their regional adversary Iran and closing of a Turkish military base in Qatar.