Tabnak – As the diplomatic spat still persists among Qatar and the other GCC nations and after various regional mediating efforts failed to bear successful results, world great powers are increasing their attempts to mediate. Latest moves by the US and Britain could be explained in this context.
In this vein, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has called on Saudi Arabia and its Persian Gulf allies to end their blockade and siege of Qatar as he continued his tour of the Persian Gulf.
"What people need to see is de-escalation and progress towards tackling the funding of terrorism in the region, and progress toward an end to this blockade," Johnson said in Kuwait City on Saturday before heading to Qatar, Press TV reports.
He further expressed UK’s support for Kuwait’s efforts to broker a solution to the row which is said to be the worst to hit the region since the formation of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in 1981.
"My impression is that progress can be made ... But I am not going to pretend that it is going to be overnight," Johnson said after meeting with his Kuwaiti counterpart. The two disputing sides have not met yet, but "let's keep our fingers crossed, let's keep working for common sense and for de-escalation on both sides", he added.
Meanwhile, The Washington Post reports that after weeks of public statements and private phone calls with no apparent result, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has decided to personally intervene in the ongoing Persian Gulf dispute.
Tillerson will travel late Monday to Kuwait and plans to spend the week talking to leaders of the warring Persian Gulf capitals, receiving them in Kuwait or shuttling among regional capitals, according to senior US officials, who cautioned that a firm schedule is not yet set.
Tillerson’s first foray into high-stakes crisis negotiation comes as his stewardship of the State Department has been questioned in Congress, the White House and within the Department itself.
The new wave of international mediating efforts comes as Qatar has rejected new claims by the Saudi-led bloc that it "finances terrorism” and intervenes in the other Arab countries’ internal affairs.
"The State of Qatar’s position on terrorism is consistent and known for its rejection and condemnation of all forms of terrorism, whatever the causes and motives,” the state Qatar News Agency quoted a senior Foreign Ministry source as saying on Friday.
However, the UAE has claimed that Qatar’s response to the recent list of demands of the four boycotting countries was "irresponsible.” The response was "shockingly naive, with weak arguments,” Anwar Mohammad Gargash, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, said in series of tweets late Friday.
The official said that Qatar’s response "has undermined the Kuwaiti mediation before it even took off.” He added that "no diplomatic efforts will succeed if Doha does not act reasonably.” He stressed that "hiding behind the words of sovereignty and denial will only extend the Qatar crisis.”
The Arab anti-Qatar bloc, consisting of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates, severed diplomatic ties and cut all land, sea, and air routes with Qatar on June 5, accusing it of supporting terrorism and destabilizing the region, allegations denied by Doha.
They later issued a 13-point list of demands for Doha to meet in order for the relations to be restored. Among them was that Qatar close a Turkish military base, limit its ties with Iran, and "compensate” the sanctioning countries. They also demanded that Al Jazeera, a media network that has reportedly been critical of Saudi Arabia and the other boycotting countries, be closed.
