Qatar urges Trump to intervene in Gulf crisis
BY ELLEN MITCHELL
As the diplomatic crisis in the Gulf nears
its first full month, Qatari officials are
urging the White House to exert its considerable
influence on the nations that have imposed
a blockade on the tiny peninsular state.
Qatar is asking the U.S. to pressure Saudi
Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt
and Bahrain to end the isolation that started
June 5, when the countries abruptly cut diplomatic
ties and closed all land, air and sea borders
with the Gulf state.
Several ideas floated by Qatar include placing
a hold on weapons deals and halting other
contracts signed between the U.S. and those
countries.
�The U.S. has great influence with the Saudis.
The Saudi Arabian government has signed many
deals with the U.S. government.
I think that acting in a civil and human way
should be a condition of those contracts and
deals to go through,� a Qatari defense spokesman
told The Hill.
�I don�t think the government should reward
such draconian measures by giving Saudi Arabia
and the UAE weapons,� he added.
The State Department earlier this month approved
the sale of $1.4 billion in military training
and equipment to Saudi Arabia as part of a
10-year, $110 billion arms deal signed by
President Trump in May.
The United States has vested interests in
both Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
Qatar is home to the Al Udeid Air Base, the
largest U.S. military base in the region,
which serves as the staging area for much
of the military campaign against the Islamic
State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
And Qatar on June 14 signed an agreement to
buy up to 36 F-15 fighter jets from the United
States for $12 billion.
The Saudi-led bloc cited links to terrorist
groups and relations with Iran when cutting
ties with Qatar earlier this month.
The State Department spoke out against the
move, saying it hindered U.S. military operations
against ISIS in the region.
The United States has since played mediator,
with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson calling
for tensions to cool and the blockade to end.
But the administration has done little else
to press the Gulf nations.
�Our role has been to encourage the parties
to get their issues on the table clearly articulated
so that those issues can be addressed and
some resolution process can get underway to
bring this to conclusion,� Tillerson said
Wednesday.
�Our desire is for unity within the Gulf
and unity within the [Gulf Cooperation Council].�
A spokesman from the State Department told
The Hill the department encourages �all
parties to exercise restraint to allow for
productive, diplomatic discussions.�
The Qatari spokesman said that he hopes Trump
specifically will use his �considerable
influence in the region� to press for a
resolution.
�I know President Trump is a good man.
No good American man would ever view the humanitarian
issue that this blockade is posing on the
people of Qatar, and would stand still,�
he said.
�My hope is that that will be reflected
in his statements to the Saudis and the UAE
that whatever the grievances will be, that
this blockade must end now.�
He joked, �I don�t know if Trump if going
to say, �Mr. Highness, Mr. President, tear
down this blockade,� but that would be a
statement.�
Trump has both slammed Qatar publicly and
attempted to play mediator in the crisis.
When the blockade first took effect, he charged
that country funds terrorism and appeared
to take credit for the break in a string of
tweets.
�So good to see the Saudi Arabia visit with
the King and 50 countries already paying off,�
Trump wrote.
�They said they would take a hard line on
funding � extremism, and all reference was
pointing to Qatar.
Perhaps this will be the beginning of the
end of the horror of terrorism!�
Days later, Trump spoke on the phone with
the emir of Qatar and �offered to help the
parties resolve their differences, including
through a meeting at the White House if necessary,�
according to a White House statement.
Qatar has held strong on its position and
said it would not step up to the negotiation
table until the blockade is lifted, citing
an unfair tilt to the game.
�We will not be strong-armed, we will not
be bullied by a bigger government like Saudi
Arabia and the UAE,� the Qatari spokesman
said.
The spokesman did insist that Trump�s recent
trip to Saudi Arabia likely did not have an
influence on the Saudi�s decision to impose
the blockade.
Trump traveled to Saudi Arabia last month
and has since boasted that his rhetoric on
uniting against terrorism and Iran was the
reason for the split.
�Was there any signals made or encouragement
by the administration?
I really don�t think so, I think Saudi Arabia
had their minds made up,� the spokesman
said.
The situation is likely to become more complicated
with a new 13-point list of demands on Qatar
from the Gulf nations, revealed Thursday.
The countries insist that Qatar shutter the
broadcasting network Al Jazeera, cut all diplomatic
ties with Iran and end all military cooperation
with Turkey, including closing Turkey's air
base in the country.
The list also demands that Qatar stop funding
entities designated as terrorist groups by
the U.S. government, and that the country
align itself militarily, politically, economically
and socially with other Gulf nations.
All requests are to be met in 10 days.
Kuwait delivered the list to Qatar, as the
country is acting as a mediator in the dispute,
according to the State Department.
The department would not discuss the list
of demands, and referred questions to the
Gulf governments involved for specifics.
�We are not going to get ahead of current
diplomatic discussions,� the spokesperson
said.
A spokeswoman from the Qatar Embassy said
officials are still studying the list and
have not released an official statement in
response.
Should the U.S. not intervene and a resolution
is not found soon, the situation will only
get worse, the Qatari spokesman warned.
�If that persists, it will affect U.S. operation
in the region, not only in Qatar, but as a
whole,� he said.
�Al Udeid Air Base is not in a vacuum, it�s
in the middle of a country that�s under
a blockade, so it�s only reasonable to think
that it will have a wash over effect on the
base.�
