In Saturday’s joint statement, the armed groups accused the government delegation of acting in concert with “agents provocateurs” in order to “stall negotiations through harassment and intimidation, provocations and attempted aggression with a view to creating physical incidents”.
The rebel groups said that while they “restated their desire to reach a peace accord … they “reserve the right to suspend their participation or withdraw from the talks”.
They added that, were that to come to pass, “the government will bear the entire responsibility”.
The government responded with frustration.
“Why would we sabotage a dialogue which we ourselves wanted,” spokesman Abderaman Koulamallah told AFP, insisting that “negotiations are advancing well, each party has to take a step towards the other.”
Qatar has previously helped in peace efforts for Yemen, Lebanon, Sudan and between the Afghan Taliban and US government.