Qatar FM in US for talks on Gulf boycott 

Qatar Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani was in Washington this week to meet with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to discuss the Gulf crisis and ongoing boycott of Doha by neighbouring countries.

The Qatari minister told reporters following his meeting with Pompeo that they discussed “the Gulf dispute and the US efforts appreciated by the State of Qatar to restore the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)”, adding that his country is ready for unconditional dialogue based on mutual respect for the each state’s sovereignty and non-interference in internal affairs.

He added that Kuwait’s mediation efforts in the Gulf crisis are continuing, noting that recent visits by Kuwaiti officials to Saudi Arabia and Qatar were in the context of resolving the Gulf crisis and other developments.

The meeting also discussed ways of boosting bilateral relations including cooperation, especially in the fields of defence, regional security and combating terrorism, and the situation in Syria, Iraq and Libya.

This is the second visit by a senior Qatari official to the United States in a short period. Defence Minister Khalid Bin Mohammed Al-Attiyah visited Washington last week.

Saudi official: Qatar took steps to ease tension with its neighbouring countries

Qatar and the US have a strategic partnership and cooperation where Doha hosts the headquarters of the US Central Command, which oversees US military operations in many countries, including Syria, Yemen, Iraq and Afghanistan.

About 13,000 US military personnel, most of them from the Air Force, are stationed at Al-Adeed Air Base, 30 kilometres southwest of the capital Doha.