Qatar's emir renews call for dialogue over Gulf crisis

NEW YORK: Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani on Tuesday renewed a call for "unconditional dialogue" to end a political crisis pitting his country against four Arab states, but it was not clear his overture would thaw the dispute.

Speaking from the podium of the 193-member United Nations General Assembly, Sheikh Tamim renewed the call "for an unconditional dialogue based on mutual respect for sovereignty".

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain cut diplomatic and trade links with Qatar on June 5, suspending air and shipping routes with the world’s biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas, which is home to the region’s biggest US military base.



The nations say Doha supports regional foe Iran and militants, charges Qatar’s leaders deny. Kuwait has been trying to mediate the dispute and the United States has taken an increasingly robust role in trying to bring an end to the crisis, but as yet to no avail.

In a speech severely criticising the four Arab states' conduct during the dispute, the emir said the countries were inflicting damage on the "war on terror".



"The countries who imposed the blockade on the State of Qatar interfere in the internal affairs of many countries, and accuse all those who oppose them domestically and abroad with terrorism. By doing they are inflicting damage on the war on terror," Sheikh Tamim said in his speech to the annual gathering of world leaders.

Earlier this month, Saudi Arabia suspended any dialogue with Qatar, accusing it of “distorting facts”, just after a report of a phone call between the leaders of both countries suggested a breakthrough in the Gulf dispute.

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman spoke by the telephone with Qatar’s Emir in the first publicly reported contact between the two leaders since the start of the crisis. US President Donald Trump has said he would be willing to mediate the worst dispute in decades among the US-allied Arab states and Qatar and that he thinks a deal could come quickly.