Kuwait, U.S., Britain call for rapid solution of Qatari crisis through dialogue

KUWAIT, July 11 (Xinhua) — Kuwait, the U.S. and Britain have called for “a rapid end” to the crisis between Qatar and its Arab neighbors through dialogue, the official KUNA news agency reported Tuesday.

The call was issued at a meeting held late Monday by Kuwait’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah with visiting U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Britain’s National Security Advisor Mark Sedwill.

They “expressed deep concern” over the continuation of the current crisis in the region, the report said.

They urged all parties to “contain this crisis rapidly, and to find a solution through dialogue as soon as possible.”

Tillerson and Sedwill reaffirmed their support to the mediation efforts made by Kuwait’s Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah to solve the crisis.

Tillerson arrived in Kuwait Monday to discuss the ways to broker an end to the crisis in the Gulf, which Washington fears could damage its counterterrorism operations in the region. The U.S. has a huge military base in Qatar, from where its military carries out airstrikes at terrorists in Syria and Iraq.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Egypt severed diplomatic ties with Qatar early last month and cut off sea, land and air links to the tiny rich Gulf nation, accusing Doha of supporting terrorism, interfering in their internal affairs and seeking closer ties with Iran, a Saudi rival.

Qatar has strongly denied the charges and rejected a list of 13 demands put forward by the Saudi-led bloc later last month as preconditions for resuming diplomatic ties.