Mahmoud Barakat
13 January 2019•Update: 14 January 2019
By Ahmed Yusuf
DOHA
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday hailed Qatari support for Washington’s anti-terrorism efforts.
Speaking during the opening session of the second US-Qatari Strategic Dialogue in Doha, Pompeo said the U.S. and Qatar work together to settle many regional issues, including Afghanistan and Iraq.
He expressed gratitude to Qatar for hosting 13,000 U.S. soldiers at Al Udeid Air Base, going on to reiterate keenness on enhancing bilateral cooperation especially that Qatar will host the FIFA World Cup in 2022.
Pompeo and his Qatari counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani inked a number of economic, political and security agreements during the opening session.
The U.S. Secretary of State is currently on a Middle East tour that included the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Egypt. He will visit Saudi Arabia after Qatar.
In mid-2017, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE and Bahrain severed diplomatic and trade ties with Qatar, accusing Doha of supporting terrorism, an accusation vehemently denied by Qatar.
