U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Friday urged Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states to ease their blockade against Qatar, saying it was causing unintended humanitarian consequences and affecting the U.S.-led fight against Islamic State.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt severed relations with the small Gulf Arab state on Monday, accusing it of supporting Islamist militants and their arch-adversary Iran, charges Qatar calls baseless.
“We call on the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt to ease the blockade against Qatar,” Tillerson said in a brief statement to reporters.
Tillerson said the blockade was causing food shortages, the forced separation of families and children being pulled out of school.
“We believe these are unintended consequences, especially during the holy month of Ramadan,” he said.
“Our expectation is that these countries will immediately take steps to de-escalate the situation and put forth a good faith effort to resolve their grievances they have with each other,” Tillerson said.
The blockade is also hindering U.S. military action in the region and its campaign against Islamic State, he said. More than 11,000 U.S. and coalition forces are at al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, from which more than 100 aircraft operate.
At the same time, Tillerson said Qatar has a history of supporting groups across a wide political spectrum, including those that engage in violence, and that the emir of Qatar had made progress in halting financial support for terrorism but that he must do more.
On Monday, U.S. president Donald Trump appeared to take some credit for the blockade and welcomed it is a positive news in a series of tweets.
“So good to see the Saudi Arabia visit with the King and 50 countries already paying off. They said they would take a hard line on funding extremism, and all reference was pointing to Qatar,” said Trump. “Perhaps this will be the beginning of the end to the horror of terrorism!”
Trump, at a photo opportunity with Romania’s president at the White House, said he would deliver a further statement on Qatar later Friday.
