Germany, Qatar to share intel to help end Gulf crisis

By Ahmed al-Masri and Zeynep Hilal Karyagdi

DOHA

German intelligence will work with Qatar to resolve accusations by Gulf states, that country’s foreign minister said Thursday, Al Jazeera.

Sigmar Gabriel said Qatar agreed to share information about "certain people and institutions" with German intelligence.

There were no further details provided.

Gabriel visited Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar and Kuwait as part of a three-day Gulf tour that began Monday.

Gabriel said Tuesday that Berlin was in favor of solution-oriented approaches to the Gulf crisis and praised the U.S. and Kuwait for their efforts as mediators, in a joint news conference with his Qatari counterpart, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani.

"Germany has not taken the side of any party during the Gulf crisis. However, we support a solution-based approach and we are trying to figure out what the core of this problem is," he said.

On June 5, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain all abruptly cut diplomatic ties with Qatar, accusing Doha of interfering in their domestic affairs and supporting terrorist groups.

The four states later presented Qatar with a list of 13 demands, including the closure of pan-Arab news broadcaster Al Jazeera, that they said must be met before the embargo is lifted.