Kuwait, US, Britain call for rapid solution of Qatari crisis

Kuwait, the US and Britain have called for "a rapid end" to the crisis between Qatar and its Arab neighbours through dialogue, the media reported on Tuesday.

The call was issued on Monday by Kuwait's Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah at a meeting with visiting US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Britain's National Security Advisor Mark Sedwill, Xinhua news agency reported.

They "expressed deep concern" over continuation of the current crisis in the region, the report said.

They urged all parties to "contain this crisis rapidly, and to find a solution through dialogue as soon as possible".

Tillerson and Sedwill reaffirmed their support to the mediation efforts made by Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah to solve the crisis.

Tillerson arrived in Kuwait on Monday to discuss the ways to broker an end to the crisis in the Gulf, which Washington fears could damage its counter-terrorism operations.

The US has a huge base in Qatar, from where its military carries out airstrikes at terrorists in Syria and Iraq.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt severed diplomatic ties with Qatar in June and cut off sea, land and air links to the tiny rich Gulf nation, accusing Doha of supporting terrorism, interfering in their internal affairs and seeking closer ties with Iran, a Saudi rival.

Qatar has strongly denied the charges and rejected a list of 13 demands put forward by the Saudi-led bloc as preconditions for resuming diplomatic ties.

--IANS

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