US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson Monday called on Gulf states to stay united and work out their differences after several nations cut diplomatic ties with Qatar.
“We certainly would encourage the parties to sit down together and address these differences,” he said in Sydney.
“If there’s any role that we can play in terms of helping them address those, we think it is important that the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) remain united.”
In the region’s most serious diplomatic crisis in years, Qatar’s Gulf neighbors Riyadh, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates as well as Egypt all announced they were severing ties with gas-rich Qatar.
Tillerson said despite the impasse, he did not expect it to have “any significant impact, if any impact at all, on the unified fight against terrorism in the region or globally”.
“All of those parties you mentioned have been quite unified in the fight against terrorism and the fight against Daesh, ISIS, and have expressed that most recently in the summit in Riyadh,” he added.
Less than a month ago, US President Donald Trump visited the region to cement ties with powerhouse Saudi Arabia — the first foreign stop of his young presidency.
Source: AFP
