KUWAIT CITY: The foreign minister of Kuwait said on Friday that progress had been made in resolving a row that has seen Saudi Arabia and its allies boycott Qatar since mid-2017.
“Fruitful discussion have taken place recently in which all sides expressed their keenness to reach a final agreement,” Sheikh Ahmad Nasser al-Sabah said in a statement read out on Kuwait TV, thanking White House senior adviser Jared Kushner for his “recent efforts”.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt imposed a diplomatic, trade and travel boycott on Qatar in June 2017, accusing Doha of supporting terrorism and having ties with Iran that were deemed too close.
Qatar has repeatedly rejected the accusations as baseless while highlighting its readiness for dialogue.
“Right now, there is a movement that we hope will put an end to this crisis,” Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, also deputy prime minister, said earlier on Friday.
“We believe the end of the crisis is important for the security of the region and for sake of our people. This crisis needs to end based on mutual respect and the rights of all people of the Gulf.
“Qatar is not differentiating between any of the countries. We hope things will move in the right direction but we cannot yet predict if it will be imminent and if it will be resolved in one day.”
As the price for lifting the blockade, the four nations set a 13-point ultimatum for Qatar, which included shutting down the Al Jazeera Media Network.
“There is no country that is in a position to place demands on the other. There are differences that need to be overcome,” said Al-Thani. “If there are any disagreements, there must be a discussion to resolve them. We need to build our relationship based on mutual respect of sovereignty,” he added.
There has been speculation that a potential resolution may only include some of the blockading countries, but Qatar’s foreign minister confirmed that was not the case.
“The Kuwait mediation is being carried out between Qatar and the four countries. Any resolution should be a holistic resolution,” he said.
“It will take time to heal the wounds even if the crisis comes to an end, a deal will involve all countries not just one [Saudi Arabia.
We have been trying to engage with all people and Gulf unity will be at the end of this,” said Qatar’s foreign minister. He added that there were several previous attempts to resolve this conflict through Kuwaiti and US mediation, explaining “certain progress” had been achieved more than a year ago.–PNP
