US urge Gulf States to ease restrictions on Qatar blockade
US urge Gulf States to ease restrictions on Qatar blockade: US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has said that Gulf countries shall ease the blockade on Qatar, Qatar has been accused by the Arab neighbours of funding terrorism.
On Monday, 05th June 2017, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt along with Bahrain had cut travel and there diplomatic ties with Qatar.
According to Mr Tillerson the blockade was having humanitarian consequences.
However while praising the Qatar’s emir in his work to limit the funding of terror groups, Mr Tillerson added that more needed to be done.
Conversely the US President Donald Trump has accused Qatar of funding terrorism, and urged it to stop. “I decided with Rex Tillerson that the time had come to call on Qatar to end funding and extremist ideology in terms of funding, Stop teaching people to kill other people… We want you back among the unity of nations.”
On the other hand Qataris have denied accusations that they support Islamist extremists.
Earlier the US President Trump had tweeted support for the move to isolate Qatar over its alleged financing of extremist groups. Furthermore the President repeated that message forcefully from the podium, despite the US efforts to defuse the crisis: he even claimed to have been part of the decision made by Saudi Arabia and others.
The Presidents tone and approach on the other hand undercut that of Secretary Tillerson, Tillerson who barely an hour earlier had delivered a more nuanced appeal for de-escalation, making clear he expected all parties to end the crisis.
Tillerson on one hand said that Qatar must respond to its neighbours’ concerns, but on the other hand he also urged the others to take action against extremists within their borders.
According to the US officials the two men had sent the same messages with different emphases, which aimed at encouraging their Arab allies to put aside grievances and focus on fighting terrorism.
However it was the differences that resonated. These differences are said to be another example, which seem, that President Trump is forging a path at variance with that of his top officials.
When the President criticised Qatar, he on the other hand thanked Saudi Arabia. The President embrace of Riyadh on a recent trip there seems to have influenced his thinking, and raised questions about the direction of any US mediation.
Earlier in the week, the tiny, oil- and gas-rich state Qatar was cut off and isolated by some of the Arab world’s most powerful countries.
Conversely Qatari planes were also banned from using some of their neighbours’ airspace. The dramatic move had come after years of tension existed between Qatar and its Gulf neighbours, in particular Saudi Arabia.
Mr Tillerson in Washington said that “There are humanitarian consequences to this blockade, We are seeing shortages of food, families are being forcibly separated and children pulled out of school.”
- Saudi Arabia and its three allies issued a list of 49 people – including Muslim Brotherhood spiritual leader Yusuf al-Qaradawi – and 12 Qatar-backed charities and groups accused of links with militants
- Qatar responded by saying that the list reinforced “baseless allegations”
- UAE foreign affairs minister Anwar Gargash said they and their allies were seeking to “straighten an evil that has targeted the region”.
Saudi Arabia has demanded that Qatar needs to cut ties with the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, if it wanted to end its isolation.
On Thursday, 08th June 2017, Qatar’s Sheikh Mohammed said his country had been isolated “because we are successful and progressive” and called his country “a platform for peace not terrorism.”
The Sheikh added that “We are not ready to surrender, and will never be ready to surrender, the independence of our foreign policy.”
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