Kuwait's Ruler to Mediate Qatar-Gulf Crisis

Kuwait's ruler will travel to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday as a mediator to resolve the current crisis between Qatar and some other Gulf Arab states including Saudi Arabia, which have severed diplomatic and transport ties with Doha. 

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Kuwait's emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah will meet with Saudi Arabia's King Salman and help mediate what has shaped up to be the worst dispute among regional powers in decades. 

Al-Sabah spoke with Qatar's leader, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, by telephone on Monday. He advised the Qatari ruler to "work on easing tensions and refrain from taking any decision that might cause escalation,” the Kuwait state news agency Kuna reported. 

Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani told Qatar-based Al Jazeera news agency that Qatar wants to give Kuwait's ruler the ability to "proceed and communicate with the parties to the crisis and to try to contain the issue."

Al-Thani also decided to put off a planned speech to the nation in order to allow Kuwait to mediate, the foreign minister said. 

Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain cut diplomatic ties with Qatar and closed their airspace to commercial flights on Monday, accusing it for supporting Islamist militants and Iran. Yemen, Libya's eastern-based government and the Maldives joined the move later.

Qatar's Foreign Ministry denied the accusations made against it, calling them “baseless.”

“The State of Qatar has been subjected to a campaign of lies that have reached the point of complete fabrication. It reveals a hidden plan to undermine the State of Qatar,” the statement said.

The group issuing sanctions on Doha "is clearly the imposition of guardianship over Qatar, which is in itself a violation of its sovereignty, and is rejected outright," it added.

The dispute between Qatar and the Arab countries escalated after a recent hack of Qatar's state-run news agency. In the alleged hack, Qatar News Agency published a news report that criticized U.S. foreign policy, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt, and defended Hezbollah, Hamas and Iran. 

Iran, long at odds with Saudi Arabia, blamed U.S. President Donald Trump's visit to Riyadh last month and called for the sides to overcome their differences through dialogue and diplomacy.

"What is happening is the preliminary result of the sword dance," Deputy Chief of Staff of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani Hamid Aboutalebi tweeted, referring to Trump's joining in a traditional dance with the Saudi king at a greeting ceremony.

Trump said on Tuesday that leaders he met on his Middle East trip had warned him that Qatar was funding "radical ideology” and that he was glad that these countries were taking actions to stop financing militant groups.

"During my recent trip to the Middle East I stated that there can no longer be funding of Radical Ideology. Leaders pointed to Qatar - look!" Trump tweeted.

He continued with a series of Twitter posts, saying, "So good to see the Saudi Arabia visit with the King and 50 countries already paying off. 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 to the horror of terrorism!" 

Qatar is home to the U.S. Al-Udeid airbase that holds the forward headquarters of the military’s central command and hosts some 10,000 American troops. The U.S. Department of Defense said on Monday it is grateful for its "enduring commitment to regional security" and there is no plan to change their posture in Qatar.

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The Gulf countries forbade their citizens from traveling to Qatar, residing in it or passing through it, instructing their citizens to leave Qatar within 14 days and gave Qataris 14 days to leave those countries.

Qatar's stock market index sank 7.3 percent, the worst since 2009, and oil prices also slipped below $50 a barrel on Tuesday. Some Egyptian banks said they were suspending dealing with Qatari banks.

About 80 percent of Qatar’s food requirements are imported from its Gulf Arab neighbors. Some residents in Qatar began stockpiling food and supplies after the rift.

Saudi Arabia's aviation authority revoked the license of Qatar Airways, one of the region's major long-haul carriers, and ordered its offices to be closed within 48 hours. The UAE and Bahrain also closed their airspace to Qatari commercial flights.

The measures are more severe than during a previous rift, when Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE withdrew their ambassadors from Doha in 2014, alleging Qatari support for the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and across the region.