Ali H. M.Abo Rezeg
05 March 2018•Update: 05 March 2018
By Ahmed al-Masri
DOHA
Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on Monday met with Timothy Lenderking, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for Gulf affairs, and retired U.S. Marine Corps General Anthony Zinni.
According to Qatar’s official QNA news agency, the meeting tackled “the strategic relationship between Qatar and the U.S. and recent developments in the regional and international arenas."
Monday’s meeting comes shortly after the Qatari emir received a letter -- the contents of which were not made public -- from his Kuwaiti counterpart, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah.
Al-Sabah also reportedly sent letters to two other Gulf leaders: Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.
Notably, members of a Saudi-led bloc of Arab states announced last week that its months-long political standoff with Qatar “should be resolved within the framework of Kuwaiti mediation efforts."
Last summer, the Saudi-led bloc -- which includes the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain -- collectively severed relations with Qatar, accusing Doha of supporting terrorist groups in the region.
The four-nation bloc threatened to impose further sanctions on Qatar if it failed to meet a long list of demands, including the closure of Doha-based news broadcaster Al Jazeera.
Qatar, for its part, has refused to comply, strenuously denying the accusations leveled against it.
Kuwait, meanwhile, has maintained neutrality, dispatching a number of high-level emissaries to relay messages between Qatar and the Saudi-led bloc with a view to resolving the diplomatic crisis.
