Crisis gone on too long
Says Pompeo, urges Gulf states to heal rift, pledges to push Saudi crown prince to hold Khashoggi murderers 'accountable'
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo yesterday said that a rift between Qatar and its Arab Gulf neighbours had gone on for too long.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and non-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member Egypt cut diplomatic, transport and trade ties with Qatar in June 2017, accusing it of supporting terrorism and their regional foe Shia Muslim Iran - something Doha denies.
The United States, an ally of the six-nation Sunni Muslim GCC, sees the rift as a threat to efforts to contain Iran and has pushed for a united Gulf front.
"When we have a common challenge, disputes between countries with shared objectives are never helpful," he said at a press conference in the Qatari capital Doha.
"They never permit you to have as robust a response to common adversaries or common challenges as you might," he added.
Doha says the boycott aims to undermine its sovereignty.
For Washington, turning the page on the crisis is essential for the successful launch of the Strategic Alliance of the Middle East (MESA), which is a NATO-style security pact that includes Gulf countries as well as Egypt and Jordan.
Pompeo also said he will ask Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to ensure the killers of journalist Jamal Khashoggi are held accountable for their crime.
Pompeo is due to travel to Saudi Arabia later yesterday as part of an eight-day trip to Amman, Cairo, Manama, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Riyadh, Muscat, and finally Kuwait City.
He was speaking to journalists in Doha after meeting his Qatari counterpart, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani.
He will meet the Qatari emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, before heading to Saudi Arabia.
Khashoggi was killed on October 2 in a case which stunned the world and threatened a serious rift between Riyadh and Washington. The journalist was murdered and his corpse dismembered inside the kingdom's Istanbul consulate.
Evidence subsequently emerged that the killing was done by a team of Saudis sent from Riyadh and closely linked to the crown prince. Riyadh prosecutors have announced indictments against 11 people, and are seeking the death penalty against five of them.