UK: progress can be made to ease Qatar tensions

KUWAIT: British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said on Saturday progress could be made to heal a rift between Qatar and other Arab states, although a solution was unlikely to be found immediately.
Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, and Bahrain have cut diplomatic and transport ties with Qatar over accusations it was financing terrorism, claims Doha says are “baseless.”
“My impression is progress can be made and there is a way forward,” Johnson said in a televised interview released to media after meeting senior government figures in Kuwait.
“But I’m not going to pretend to you now that it is necessarily overnight or this is going to be done in the next couple of days,” he said.
Johnson said it was “highly unlikely” that the current standoff would descend into military conflict.
“Everybody I have talked to said the opposite. No possibility of a military confrontation,” he said.
Johnson held meetings on Friday with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan.
Johnson met with his Kuwaiti counterpart Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Sabah on Saturday and was scheduled to visit Qatar later for meetings with its emir and prime minister.
“What people need to see is de-escalation and progress toward tackling the funding of terrorism in the region, and progress toward an end to this blockade,” Johnson said, voicing support for Kuwait as a mediator in the crisis.
“The blockade is unwelcome and we hope there will be a de-escalation,” he added.
Kuwait has been leading mediation efforts to resolve the crisis that is threatening the existence of the 36-year-old Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
Kuwaiti officials have held talks with the foreign ministers of Germany and fellow GCC member Oman, which has not joined the Qatar boycott.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is scheduled to arrive in Kuwait on Monday for talks on the crisis.