UAE minister of state for foreign affairs Anwar Gargash said he hopes that Qatar is genuinely ready to listen to the grievances of its neighbouring countries on Sunday.
“Is this the beginning of wisdom and reasonable thinking? I hope so,” he said in a tweet, obviously referring to a Kuwaiti statement that Doha was ready to listen to Gulf state concerns as it has tried to mediate a solution to the worst regional crisis in years..
On June 5, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain and Egypt severed ties with Qatar because of its links to terror groups and Iran. The rift has disrupted travel and severed commercial links.
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Earlier on Sunday, UAE President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan instructed authorities to take into consideration the humanitarian circumstances of Emirati-Qatari mixed families “in a gesture towards the brotherly Qatari people,” WAM news agency quoted an official source as saying. Saudi Arabia and Bahrain also announced similar measures and all three countries have set up hotlines for concerned citizens to get more information.
In Kuwait, Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al Khalid Al Sabah spoke of Qatar’s “readiness to understand the reality of the qualms and concerns of their brothers [in the GCC] and to heed the noble endeavours to enhance security and stability.”
Kuwait, which has retained ties with Qatar and has often acted as a mediator in regional disputes, said it wanted to resolve the dispute “within the unified Gulf house,” Kuwait’s state news agency KUNA quoted the minister as saying.
In Saudi Arabia, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman discussed efforts to “counter terrorism and extremism” in a telephone call with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Sunday, state news agency SPA said.
