Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

Kuwait’s Emir Leaves Doha with No End for Qatar Crisis in Sight, Trump Offers to Mediate | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
Select Page
Media ID: 55376009
Caption:

Kuwait’s Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah attends the opening of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit in Doha December 3, 2007. REUTERS/Fadi Al-Assaad


Ankara- Events are unfolding on the political and economic isolation of Qatar by a number of Arab countries escalated.

In an effort to mediate for resolving the diplomatic crisis Qatar is suffering, Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah held talks on Wednesday with UAE Vice President Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed.

After meeting with UAE leaders, Kuwait’s ruler left for Doha to meet with Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

The Kuwaiti ruler held talks Tuesday in the Saudi city of Jeddah with the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia over the crisis facing the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council.

The Kuwaiti emir played a pivotal role in mediating a compromise in a 2014 diplomatic dispute between Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and other Gulf states.

Later on Wednesday, Washington’s White House announced President Donald Trump contacting Qatar’s leader, offering to mediate for the crisis between Doha and Arab countries to help the parties resolve their differences by inviting them to a White House meeting if necessary.

“The president offered to help the parties resolve their differences, including through a meeting at the White House if necessary,” Trump’s office said after the call.

A Qatari official said Trump in the call had “expressed readiness to find a solution to the diplomatic crisis in the Gulf, and stressed his keenness that the Gulf remains stable.”

Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE and Bahrain announced on Monday they were cutting diplomatic ties and closing air, sea and land links with Qatar, giving Qataris within their borders two weeks to leave.

“During my recent trip to the Middle East I stated that there can no longer be funding of Radical Ideology. Leaders pointed to Qatar – look,” Trump had tweeted Tuesday.

“So good to see the Saudi Arabia visit with the King and 50 countries already paying off. They said they would take a hard line on funding extremism, and all reference was pointing to Qatar. Perhaps this will be the beginning of the end to the horror of terrorism!” Trump also wrote on Twitter.

For its part, Turkey threw its weight behind Qatar, after Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif arriving in Ankara to discuss the unfolding Qatar crisis.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif arrived in Turkey on Wednesday, saying there was a need for close discussions with Turkish officials on “worrying” developments in the region.

Zarif was scheduled to meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu for talks on bilateral and regional issues, Turkish officials said.

“There are worrying developments for us that are taking place in the region,” Hurriyet newspaper quoted Zarif as telling reporters as he arrived at his hotel in Ankara. “There is a need for a close exchange of views with Turkey concerning these developments.”

More so, Turkey’s Grand National Assembly on Wednesday approved a draft bill allowing the deployment of troops to a Turkish military base in Qatar.

However, the draft resolution, which was approved by parliament, did not specify how many soldiers would be sent to the base or when they would be sent.

Russian officials on Wednesday angrily rejected allegations that Russian hackers breached Qatar’s state news agency and planted a fake news story that led to a split between Qatar and the other Arab nations.

Andrei Krutskhikh, the Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy for cybersecurity, told the Interfax news agency that Tuesday’s CNN report contains “zero evidence” that the Russian government was behind the news story.
Putin had a telephone conversation with the Emir of Qatar Tuesday, urging dialogue.