Qatari Officials Say Ready to Resolve Gulf Crisis With Dialogue

(Bloomberg) --

Qatar wants to resolve a diplomatic rift with its Arab Gulf neighbors, now in its fourth year, through dialogue, officials said.

“Qatar on every occasion has confirmed its readiness to work with the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council and other international bodies to solve the current crisis through unconditional dialogue,” Sheikha Alya Al Thani, the permanent representative of Qatar to the United Nations, was quoted as saying by the official Qatar News Agency.

A similar remark was made on Friday by Qatar's Foreign Affairs Minister Mohamed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, who in an interview with Al-Jazeera television referred to a “new initiative” to resolve the rift and said that Qatar was eager to maintain Gulf unity.

Earlier this week, Kuwait, which has been acting as a mediator between Qatar and its Gulf Arab neighbors, said there was progress toward resolving the standoff.

The rift in relations started in June 2017, when Saudi Arabia, the U.A.E., Bahrain and Egypt abruptly severed diplomatic, trade and transport ties with Qatar, saying Qatar supported militant groups and had meddled in their internal affairs for years. Qatar has vehemently denied those claims.

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