Amir voices bitterness, extreme concern … vows mediation push

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TILLERSON, QATAR SIGN MoU ON TERROR

US, Kuwait, Britain call for rapid solution

KUWAIT CITY, July 11, (Agencies): His Highness Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al- Sabah on Tuesday expressed “bitterness” and is “extremely concerned” over “unprecedented developments” on the Gulf crisis. His Highness the Amir appreciates the positive reactions and messages of support of Kuwait’s mediation efforts regarding the stalemate, displayed by Kuwaiti nationals, Gulf states and the international community, read an Amiri Diwan statement.

These expressions of support have “relieved” him from the resulting pain and “increased our determination” to resolve the matter, said His Highness the Amir, who is leading mediation efforts on the crisis involving several Arab countries. His Highness the Amir warned that the Gulf Cooperation Council bloc’s accomplishments, based on the aspirations of its people, “cannot be compromised, and should be maintained and adhered to. “We will not surrender our historic responsibilities (towards the bloc) and we will be loyal to it until we overcome these developments,” he underlined, stressing that the related parties themselves can only resolve this crisis.

MoU on terror
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson took his mission to break the deadlock between Qatar and four Arab states to the tiny energy-rich nation Tuesday, securing a commitment from Qatar to intensify its counter terrorism efforts as he looks to end the squabbling among key Middle Eastern allies.

Qatar was Tillerson’s second stop on a shuttle-diplomacy circuit that will also take him to Saudi Arabia, which shares Qatar’s only land border and is the most powerful of the four countries lined up against it. Describing himself as a “friend to the region,” Tillerson expressed hope for progress in ending the standoff in brief remarks following a meeting with 37-yearold Amir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani in the sweltering Qatari capital, Doha.

The two countries signed a memorandum of understanding during his visit “outlining future efforts Qatar can take to fortify its fight against terrorism and actively address terrorism funding issues,” said senior Tillerson adviser R.C. Hammond. That agreement addresses one of the core allegations made against Qatar by the quartet, which has accused Doha of supporting extremists.

Qatar denies the charge. Tillerson also gave besieged Qatar some political backing ahead of talks with officials from the Arab quartet in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday. “I think Qatar has been quite clear in its positions and I think very reasonable,” he said. Tillerson, a former oilman with years of experience in the oil-rich region, began his Gulf visit Monday by meeting Kuwait’s ruler, Sheikh Sabah Al- Ahmed Al-Sabah.

The Kuwaiti leader has been acting as a mediator between Qatar and the quartet of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt. The four nations broke off relations with Qatar and cut air, sea and land routes with it in early June. They later issued a 13-point list of demands to restore relations and gave Doha 10 days to comply.

The demands include Qatar shutting down news outlets, including the media network Al-Jazeera, cutting ties with Islamist groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood, limiting ties with Iran and expelling Turkish troops stationed in the country.

Qatar strenuously denies supporting extremist groups and has rejected the demands, saying that agreeing to them wholesale would undermine its sovereignty. It does, however, at least indirectly support Islamist groups labeled as terrorist organizations, such as the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Qatar has hosted senior Hamas officials on its soil and is the largest financial patron to the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. It argues its aid is for the Palestinian people rather than Hamas.

Qatari envoy Mohammed al-Amadi signed a new agreement with a Palestinian contractor to build eight residential buildings in Gaza on Tuesday. He said his country would continue to support development projects in the seaside territory, which Hamas seized from forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in 2007. Tillerson’s arrival in the Gulf coincided with the release by CNN on Monday of allegedly leaked agreements between Qatar and its neighbors dating from 2013 and 2014. CNN said it received the documents from a source in the region.

They include a handwritten 2013 deal between the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar to not interfere directly or indirectly in the internal affairs of fellow members of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, which also includes Bahrain, Oman and the UAE. That agreement specifically ruled out support for the Muslim Brotherhood and other unnamed groups that could threaten the bloc’s members. Qatar sees the Brotherhood as a legitimate political force and has for years hosted its spiritual guide, Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi.

That puts it squarely at odds with Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt, which see the Brotherhood as a terrorist organization. The four anti-Qatar countries lent credibility to the leaked agreements in a statement issued early Tuesday. They asserted that the documents “confirm beyond any doubt Qatar’s failure to meet its commitments and its full violation of its pledges.” Their 13-point list of demands in June was tied to those earlier deals and was “fully in line with the spirit of what was agreed upon,” they said. The head of Qatar’s government communication office, Sheikh Saif bin Ahmed al-Thani, disputed that, saying the June demands “bore no relation to the Riyadh agreements,” according to a statement carried by the official Qatar News Agency.

He called the “siege” by the four states a violation of the GCC charter. US officials have said Tillerson does not expect an immediate breakthrough in the dispute and cautioned that a resolution could take months. A senior adviser to Tillerson, R.C. Hammond, has said the demands on Qatar were not viable but that there were individual items on the list “that could work.” He did not elaborate. Qatar is not new territory for Tillerson. Before being tapped to be President Donald Trump’s top diplomat, he served for years as CEO of Exxon Mobil. The Irving, Texas-based oil giant is one of the most dominant players in OPEC member Qatar’s energy industry, and played a major role in turning it into the world’s largest producer of liquefied natural gas.

Call for quick solution
Kuwait, the United States and Britain Monday called on all sides in the Gulf crisis to resolve their dispute through dialogue and expressed “deep concern” over the continued rift. Their call was issued in a joint statement following talks between Tillerson, his Kuwaiti counterpart and Britain’s national security adviser at the start of a Gulf tour in a bid to defuse the crisis. The three nations appealed to the Gulf foes “to quickly contain the current crisis and resolve it at the earliest through dialogue,” according to a statement cited by the KUNA news agency. A defiant Qatar has rejected a list of 13 demands from the Saudi-led coalition that included shutting broadcaster Al-Jazeera, downgrading diplomatic ties with Iran and closing a Turkish military base.

Kuwait mediation hailed
The European Union and Jordan underlined Monday their strong support to the efforts of His Highness the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah to defuse the Gulf crisis within the framework of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “When it comes to the European Union as you know we support the mediation efforts of the Amir of Kuwait with all our means,” EU High Representative Federica Mogherini told a joint press conference with the Jordanian minister of foreign affairs and expatriates Ayman Safadi in Brussels this afternoon. “I am constantly in contact more than on daily basis with our friends and colleagues in Kuwait. I am also in contact very often with different parties,” she said after a meeting of 12th EU-Jordan Association Council.

Noting that the US Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, visited Kuwait, the EU foreign policy chief said “I believe in the same manner the need to descalate the tensions, the need to let the mediation efforts have a space to start to engaging seriously.” Mogherini pointed out that since the beginning of the crisis “we expect this issue to be solved politically. We are worried that the GCC might come out with these tensions disunited while the GCC for us is a fundamental partner. “We expect all our partners in the GCC to solve any kind of tension through political dialogue,” she stressed. “We are indeed ourselves concerned about any move or action or any behaviour that could give space or room of support to terrorism regardless of where this can be done. We hope and we believe that tensions can be resolved through the Kuwait mediation with the European support, with the international support and with the American support,” she said.

On his part, Safadi said “Jordan has always been and continues to be a voice of reason and a voice for moderation. “We hope this crisis will be solved on the grounds and within terms that will allow … all of us to work together on building a better future that our people deserve,” he said.

“We definitely support the efforts of our Kuwait brethren in this regard and we believe this crisis will be resolved within the GCC mechanism and our brothers in the GCC will be able to address the issue in a way that will be conducive to the whole region and facing common challenges foremost among them the challenges of terrorism and the culture of terrorism,” said the Jordanian minister. He also appreciated the role of the EU in the region in creating an environment to collectively work to resolve the challenges. On her part, Mogherini said the EU enormously appreciated the Jordanian role in the prevention of radicalisation and counter terrorism. The EU and Jordan also discussed the Palestinian issue and developments in Syria. A joint statement released after the meeting, said the EU and Jordan confirmed their strong partnership and the solid diplomatic relationship that has been established.

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