Kuwait, US, Britain urge quick solution to Gulf crisis

KUWAIT CITY: 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 US Secretary of State Rex 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.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt on June 5 severed diplomatic ties with Qatar and accused Doha of funding extremist groups.

The four Arab nations also imposed tough economic sanctions on the tiny emirate with Saudi Arabia closing the sole border exit for Qatar.

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.

Qatar has categorically denied the charges.

During his tour, Tillerson is scheduled to visit Qatar and Saudi Arabia in the first serious US mediation in the Gulf crisis.