Tillerson Starts Shuttle Diplomacy in Gulf: AP
The US administration has sent its top diplomat Rex Tillerson to the Middle East July 11 to corral Qatar and its neighbours into negotiation, AP reported. He will travel between Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia testing ways to break an impasse that has persisted for a month despite Kuwaiti mediation efforts. The crisis has badly damaged ties between several key American partners, including hosts of two major US military bases, threatening counter-terrorism efforts. Tillerson landed in Kuwait City late July 10 and is due to return home July 13.
Washington is worried the dispute is hampering Trump's bid to combat international terrorist financing. US officials said Tillerson doesn't expect an immediate breakthrough, which they warned could be months away. Rather, they said, he wants to explore possibilities for sparking negotiations.
For the US, there are risks in getting so intimately involved in the spat among Gulf neighbours, reflected in Tillerson's initial reluctance to play a central mediating role. Alienating either side of the conflict could pose broader challenges for US priorities in the region, including the fight against the Islamic State group and other extremists.
Qatar has rejected 13 demands of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt to restore diplomatic relations and end a blockade on the small, gas-rich monarchy since early June.
The primary US concern is halting extremist financing to hold gains being made against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria and stop a string of deadly attacks that have hit in Europe and elsewhere. British and German foreign ministers have also visited Saudi Arabia and Qatar in the past week to try to resolve the crisis more quickly.
The US administration had been insisting Qatar's rift was a "family" dispute that should be resolved without a significant US role. Tillerson himself made clear his reluctance to get deeply involved, although he met in Washington with senior officials from the feuding countries.
William Powell