US gets serious over Gulf crisis

TILLERSON: TACKLES KUWAIT, QATAR AND SAUDI ARABIA

‘We’re months away from an actual resolution and that’s very discouraging.’

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson arrived in Kuwait, the key mediator between Qatar and its Arab neighbours, for talks aimed at defusing the Gulf’s worst crisis in years.

Tillerson will shuttle between Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia until tomorrow in what is the first serious intervention by Washington in the crisis.

He immediately held talks with Kuwait’s Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah who is leading the mediation effort between the Gulf states, the official Kuna news agency reported.

Tillerson also met Kuwait’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Sabah.

British National Security advisor Mark Sedwill, who was also received by the emir, attended part of the meeting.

Kuwait, the US and Britain issued a joint statement following the talks, appealing to the Gulf foes “to quickly contain the current crisis and resolve it at the earliest through dialogue,” according to a statement cited by Kuna.

The dispute has seen a Saudi-led alliance impose sanctions on Doha over its alleged ties to both Islamist extremist groups and Shiite-dominated Iran.

As they met in Egypt last week, Saudi Arabia and its allies said they planned to tighten sanctions against the gas-rich emirate, after Qatar refused to comply with a list of demands.

A spokesperson for Tillerson said it remained to be seen “if there’s even a possibility of some outcomes” towards resolving the crisis.

“Right now, after Egypt, we’re months away from what we think would be an actual resolution and that’s very discouraging,” RC Hammond said.

On June 5, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt abruptly severed diplomatic ties with Qatar, suspending transport links with Doha and ordering all Qataris to repatriate within 14 days.

The four nations later issued a list of 13 demands to be met to lift the sanctions, including that Qatar shut down broadcaster Al-Jazeera, close a Turkish military base and downgrade diplomatic ties with Iran.

Hammond said that the demands were not viable, at least as a package. “Individually there are things in there that could work. This is a two-way street,” he said.