Gulf states announce humanitarian hotline for mixed Qatari families amid diplomatic spat

Former FBI Director James Comey speaks during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Capitol Hill Thursday
Former FBI Director James Comey speaks during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Capitol Hill Thursday
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11 June, 2017

Lavrov and his Qatar counterpart will take stock of diplomatic efforts to diffuse the crisis, according to Russian news agency Tass.

Qatar ally Turkey meanwhile hosted the Bahraini foreign minister for talks on the crisis. He was speaking at a meeting in Moscow Saturday with Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.

"We can not be glad about the situation, when relations between our partners are getting worse", Lavrov said, according to Russian state-run media.

The president of Turkey has called for a resolution to the dispute between Qatar and other Arab and Gulf states by the end of Ramadan.

Recently, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Yemen, Libya's transitional government, the Republic of Maldives and the Republic of Mauritius severed diplomatic relations with Qatar in retaliation for its alleged support to terrorism and extremist ideology. Trump called the actions against Qatar "hard but necessary".

The State Department had said the U.S. learned only at the last minute about the Arab nations' plan to cut ties. Additionally, Saudi Arabia sealed shut Qatar's only land border, impacting a significant source of food imports for the peninsula nation.

Majority of Qatar's white sugar imports, estimated at around 100,000 tonnes annually, come from the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

He also heaped praise on U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, calling him a "good friend" that Qatar had gotten to know well during his time at the helm of Exxon Mobil.

Cavusoglu also said no country in the Gulf region should regard the deal concerning Turkey's setting up a base in Qatar as against itself.

The Qatari minister said the main goal of his visit "is to inform Russian Federation on those events and measures taken against Qatar", such as sanctions.

Despite Mr Tillerson's plea for "no further escalation", Mr Trump's sharp comments are likely to further embolden Saudi Arabia and others in their bid to isolate Qatar. He says Qatar has a history of supporting violent groups.

A separate SPA report on Saturday acknowledged Tillerson's call for Qatar to curtail support for terrorism, without mentioning that he had also said the crisis was hurting ordinary Qataris, impairing business and harming the US fight against the Islamic State militant group.

On Friday, Tillerson urged Qatar's neighbors to ease their blockade and called for "calm and thoughtful dialogue".


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