Kuwait: Qatar Ready to Heal Rift

Kuwait on Sunday said Qatar is willing to hold a dialogue with Persian Gulf Arab countries that cut ties with it and was ready to listen to their concerns, in the latest twist of a major diplomatic rift.

Kuwait has led a mediation effort to defuse an escalating crisis after Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain, along with Egypt and a group of smaller countries, severed relations with Qatar on Monday, accusing it of supporting “terrorism”—an allegation denied by Doha, Aljazeera reported. The three Arab states also imposed a land, sea and air blockade, and ordered all Qataris out within 14 days, while calling their own citizens back.

“[Kuwait] affirms the readiness of the brothers in Qatar to understand the reality of the qualms and concerns of their brothers and to heed the noble endeavors to enhance security and stability,” Kuwait’s state-run KUNA quoted Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Khalid al-Sabah as saying on Sunday.

Sheikh Sabah said the resolution of this disagreement is inevitable.

Aljazeera’s Ibrahim Mohamed, reporting from Kuwait City, said the Kuwaiti foreign minister also stressed that his country “will continue to mediate with the aim of mending fences and to address the root causes of the differences”.