Qatar crisis: All eyes on Riyadh

Saudi Arabia and the UAE are standing their ground on Qatar not interfering in the internal affairs of neighbouring countries and ending support to extremist groups as UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr Anwar Mohammed Gargash said the solution to the crisis lies in Riyadh.

While the two sides are far apart at the moment, there are positive signs they're willing to reach a conclusion and want Kuwait to continue to mediate, reports said, adding that Turkey was also helping.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu held talks in Kuwait on Thursday to push mediation efforts. Cavusoglu discussed with his Kuwaiti counterpart Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al Sabah "regional and international developments," the official KUNA news agency said. "Turkey stands on the same distance from Qatar and Saudi Arabia," Cavusoglu said.

The Turkish chief diplomat also held discussions with Qatar's emir and foreign minister on Wednesday and plans to visit Saudi Arabia.

Ahead of the talks in Kuwait, Cavusoglu said he will travel to the holy city of Makkah on Friday for talks with King Salman.

"Although the kingdom is a party in this crisis, we know that King Salman is a party in resolving it," the Turkish minister said.

"We want to hear the views of Saudi Arabia regarding possible solutions and will share with them our views in a transparent way ... We pay a great attention to our relations with them," he said.

Gargash tweeted Qatar's reputation has been damaged and said it is important that Doha makes a U-turn before it's too late. "Qatar is isolating itself from the Gulf. It doesn't share concerns about stability of the region. It's diversionary campaign has a short shelf life,'' he said in the tweets.

Taking a dig at Al Jazeera, Doha's news network, he said media and diplomacy is never a substitute for content. "Qatar must stop its role as the platform for extremist narrative and action," he said.

The minister said Qatar should recuse itself from its current role as a "champion of extremist agenda" in the region. The cost of its irresponsible policy is too high, he said, as diplomatic efforts gained speed to resolve the crisis that is into its second week.

Source: Khaleej Times