(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Gulf states expect US President Donald Trump to intervene to try to end the feud between Qatar and four other Middle East countries that has destabilised the region.
The US is concerned that the four-month long dispute involving its chief allies in the region is entrenching divisions and may end up forcing Qatar into a closer relationship with Iran, the Guardian reported.
Washington is expected to give the regional mediator, Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah al- Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, another chance to try to persuade the warring parties to meet at a long-scheduled Gulf Co-operation Council summit in December, but it may intervene soon afterwards.
'We will not and cannot dictate the terms of any resolution, but we are happy to be available in any way that the parties would like, the US assistant secretary of state Tim Lenderking, said. 'The rhetoric surrounding the dispute, including personal and often humiliating attacks, made a verbal ceasefire a precondition of any talks. At the moment there is an erosion of trust between the Gulf leaders, Lenderking added.
Apparent efforts by the quartet Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt to 'foment internal strife have backfired as the siege has led to increased patriotism among Qatari citizens and residents.
In an interview with the Guardian, the chair of Qatar's national counter-terrorism committee, Abdulaziz al-Ansari, went on the offensive over claims that his country had been soft on UN-designated terrorists, the wedge issue with which the quartet has sought to sway US public opinion.
'We wake up every day with a new made-up list of alleged terrorists that the blockading countries say we are harbouring and that must throw into jail, but there is an international system for dealing with such cases, al-Ansari said.
He pointed to a new bilateral memorandum of understanding that his government had signed with the US.
'The memorandum creates an agreement with the US and a model that other countries in the region could replicate. The whole world has to collaborate in the exchange of information because delay can cause disaster.
'We have energised all of Qatar's relevant government agencies and to put them to work under one umbrella, he said.
Al-Ansari insisted travel bans and asset freezes had been imposed on all those designated as terrorists by the UN in Qatar.
Director of the Government Communication Office HE Sheikh Saif bin Ahmed al-Thani said the Saudis are 'jeopardising regional security by refusing to conduct joint military exercises with the US if Qatar was involved.
'The US would never have established such an important military base in Qatar if it thought the country was a nest bed for terrorism, Sheikh Saif added.
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