![US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (L) and Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani (R) are seen after signing a memorandum of understanding between the two countries, during US-Qatar Strategic Dialogue conference in Doha, Qatar on January 13, 2019 [Serdar Bitmez / Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/20190113_2_34390995_40692714-e1547381245562.jpg?fit=1199%2C800&ssl=1)
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday hailed Qatari support for Washington’s anti-terrorism efforts.
Speaking during the opening session of the second US-Qatari Strategic Dialogue in Doha, Pompeo said the US and Qatar work together to settle many regional issues, including Afghanistan and Iraq.
He expressed gratitude to Qatar for hosting 13,000 US soldiers at Al Udeid Air Base, going on to reiterate keenness on enhancing bilateral cooperation especially that Qatar will host the FIFA World Cup in 2022.
Pompeo and his Qatari counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani inked a number of economic, political and security agreements during the opening session.
The US Secretary of State is currently on a Middle East tour that included the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Egypt. He will visit Saudi Arabia after Qatar.
In mid-2017, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE and Bahrain severed diplomatic and trade ties with Qatar, accusing Doha of supporting terrorism and cosying up to Iran. Qatar vehemently denies supporting terrorism and its government is seeking to use the sanctions enforced by its neighbours as an opportunity to develop its own industry and its relations with other countries.
Unless otherwise stated in the article above, this work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For other permissions, please contact us.
Spotted an error on this page? Let us know
Latest news
See all
