Their appeal ‘to quickly contain the current crisis and resolve it at the earliest through dialogue,’ indeed came at a most appropriate time when not only Qatar is suffering but also the four others – Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UAE and Egypt, which have imposed blockade on Qatar, are also suffering from image loss and global pressure to end the impasse. They have mainly accused Qatar of terror financing and spreading terrorism by Al-Jazeera TV network. But their demands are more focused on political target to establish control on Qatar’s domestic and foreign policies. Kuwait is mediating between the parties.
Qatar said the four Arab nations’ 13-point demands included shutting Al-Jazeera, downgrading diplomatic ties with Iran and closing a Turkish military base are not acceptable and any sovereign country will not do it. No one was able so far to set up a TV channel like Al-Jazeere to highlight Arab and Muslim issues. We must say the quartet must be reasonable to end the crisis when Qatar is showing all flexibility.
Meanwhile the signing of an agreement between the US Secretary of State and Qatar Foreign Minister on Tuesday in Doha on jointly fighting terrorism shows that the USA as major ally of both sides in the feud is committed to find a diplomatic solution. Tillerson is now on a shuttle diplomatic tour of the region for talks with leaders of Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar to use the agreement on jointly fighting terrorism as the basis of a solution to the dispute.
It remains however unclear why the visiting US President Donald Trump to Saudi Arabia provoked the Gulf crisis when Tillerson is trying to broker peace. Trump’s target to hit Iran remains far away. Qatar is not alone in this crisis; Iran and Turkey are sending it all supplies.
We must say the feuding parties must pay heed to the latest call by USA, Britain and Kuwait. We also urge the Muslim countries to play proactive role to defuse the crisis. Meanwhile the Arab nations must know that governments of Muslim countries all over the world are finding their feud as highly embarrassing to support one or the other. Muslims all over are also finding it highly disappointing when it makes the enemies of Muslims — Israel happy. Indeed what Israel wants the Arabs are out to do to show the political and moral chaos sweeping Arab world.
