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Tillerson Travels to Kuwait in Hopes of Brokering Qatar Deal

by VOA News

   U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson travels to Kuwait Monday to try
   to help broker a deal between Qatar and its Gulf neighbors.

   Kuwait has tried to mediate a resolution between the small monarchy on
   the Arabian Peninsula and its neighbors, but has been unsuccessful so
   far.

   Tillerson met with top Qatari and Kuwaiti officials late last month in
   an effort to end the escalating standoff, but he is apparently taking a
   more hands-on role in the negotiations with his trip to Kuwait. The
   secretary of state has emphasized the need for all parties to exercise
   restraint to allow for productive diplomatic discussions.

   Gulf neighbors cut ties

   Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt have imposed
   trade and diplomatic embargoes on Qatar. The Saudi-led group has
   suspended all relations with Qatar and has accused the oil-rich nation
   of supporting extremist groups and destabilizing the region, claims
   Qatar has denied.

   The Gulf states have also shown no willingness to ease their 13-point
   list of demands, which includes calls for Qatar to downgrade its
   relations with Iran and close the Qatari-state-funded Al-Jazeera news
   network.

   "We believe that this could potentially drag on for weeks. It could
   drag on for months," State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said
   last week, about the row among the Gulf states.

   Trump weighed in

   After his first trip abroad to Saudi Arabia, U.S. President Donald
   Trump, weighed in on the Qatar crisis, albeit in a way that contrasted
   his views with those of his secretary of state.

   "The nation of Qatar unfortunately has historically been a funder of
   terrorism at a very high level," Trump said last month, "and in the
   wake of that GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council] nations came together and
   spoke to me about confronting Qatar over its behavior."

   After the Saudis and their neighbors instituted a land, air and sea
   blockade of Qatar, Iran and Turkey promised to help the Qataris weather
   the diplomatic crisis.

   US bases

   Tillerson said in a statement: "Our role has been to encourage the
   parties to get their issues on the table, clearly articulated, so that
   those issues can be addressed and some resolution process can get under
   way to bring this to a conclusion."

   Qatar hosts the largest U.S. military base in the region, Al Udeid Air
   Base, while Bahrain, which is allied with Saudi Arabia in its
   anti-Qatar stance, is home port for the U.S. Fifth Fleet.