Qatari Emir 'doubts' Kuwaiti mediation: Political analyst

CAIRO – 29 October 2017: Qatar has been attempting to "internationalize" the Gulf crisis by exerting pressure on boycotting countries, said Saudi political analyst Khaled Zaatar on Saturday, blaming Doha for continuing the gulf stalemate.

"Qatar is not trying to resolve the problem,” Zaatar commented to Sky News Arabia on statements made by Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani during an interview with CBS News 60 Minutes, saying that

Zaatar also stressed that all boycotting countries agreed that the resolution of the crisis starts from Riyadh. Zaatar questioned Sheikh Tamim’s plea to Washington for mediation.

The analyst concluded that the reason behind that Tamim's remarks is to pressure the quartet to dismiss some of Arab countries' demands and totally abolishing the Kuwaiti mediation meant to achieve reconciliation.

“Qatar realizes that such an initiative reflects a derogatory image of Kuwait’s ability to resolve the crisis, which means that it (Doha) intends to postpone the resolution,” Zaatar stated.

In an interview with the American channel of CBS News, Qatar’s emir said that any military act against his country by the Arab anti-terrorism quartet would end up in chaos. Tamim told his host, Charlie Rose, that U.S. President Donald Trump has offered to broker negotiations between Qatar and its neighbors at Camp David to end the five-month boycott imposed by the Arab Quartet. He added that the initiative was introduced during their meeting in New York in September, and yet no country has responded to this initiative.

The analyst said that means the Qatari Emir did not learn from his previous failed attempts to harness support from Western and East-Asian countries so they would function as mediators in the crisis.

On June 5 Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Libya and Yemen decided to cut all diplomatic ties with Qatar, hurling allegations that the state supports terrorism. Ports and airspaces were cut off to Qatari vessels. Since then, Kuwait has played a role of mediator to put an end to this rift. Also, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson held several meetings with the disputed parties to heal the rift, but the discussions reach stalement.

The countries listed 13 demands to be met by Qatar, including severing ties with terrorist groups, closing down the pan-Arab Al-Jazeera satellite channel, downgrading ties with arch-rival Iran and the closure of a Turkish air base in Qatar.