Qatari FM hopes Amir’s Gulf row mediation proves successful
Qatar looks forward to seeing His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah’s efforts to resolve the Gulf crisis a success, the country’s Foreign Minister said Friday. Qatar’s chief diplomat was highly appreciative of His Highness the Amir’s initiative, whom he described as a “father” to the Qatari people and its Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman AlThani, at a press conference alongside his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, also appreciated efforts being exerted by other countries like the US, the UK and Turkey. Qatar stands firm on its position, he reiterated, as it hopes for an end to the row. For his part, the Turkish foreign minister said that his President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to the Gulf to push ahead the row-solving efforts would be decided next week.
Cavusoglu expressed the view that the involved parties should sit down together, at one table, to find a solution within a framework based on “logic and objectivity.” He also sounded upbeat about US State Secretary Rex Tillerson’s recent Gulf tour, saying it would bear fruit on the medium, and not the short term. The Qatari foreign minister, who arrived in Ankara Thursday evening, is due to meet with the Turkish president later Friday.
Meanwhile, Italy’s Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano expressed hope that the Kuwait’s Gulf meditation succeeds in containing the ongoing escalation and tension between a number of Arab countries, mainly Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Egypt, and Qatar.
The Kuwaiti meditation could actually benefit, in every step and attempt, the peace efforts to resolve the dispute quickly, Alfano said in a joint press conference with his UAE counterpart Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed AlNahyan in Rome Friday. For his part, Sheikh Abdullah affirmed the four countries’ keenness in keeping the current crisis under its political and diplomatic framework in order to resolve it through joint action.
“Our main goal is to find a permanent solution for the ongoing crisis, he said, adding that the crisis to remain within its political and legal framework, and that the four countries would not cross this framework, or even cause any escalation in any direction that would violate international laws and charters. —KUNA