Tillerson calls on Arab nations to ease blockade on Qatar

WASHINGTON – Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called on Arab nations on Friday to immediately ease their blockade on Qatar, warning that the Persian Gulf crisis is hindering U.S. efforts to fight the Islamic State group and other extremists in the Middle East.

Tillerson, who has been tapped by President Donald Trump to help mediate the crisis, also faulted Qatar for allowing funds to flow to extremist groups, echoing the complaint that Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates have cited in cutting off ties to Qatar. Tillerson said the U.S. was asking Qatar to “be responsive to the concerns of its neighbors.”

“Qatar has a history of supporting groups that span the spectrum of political expression, from activism to violence,” Tillerson said. He credited Qatar’s emir with making progress in curbing financial support and expelling terrorists, but added: “He must do more, and he must do it more quickly.”

Tillerson, speaking at the State Department, said the U.S. would help support efforts to mediate the crisis, along with Kuwait – another Gulf country that has stepped up to try to broker a resolution. Urging all sides to avoid further escalation of the conflict, Tillerson said the elements were available to resolve it.

Yet Tillerson’s plea to Qatar’s neighbors to pull back their efforts to isolate the tiny gas-rich nation marked a shift from previous statements by the Trump administration. Earlier in the week, Trump took to Twitter to take credit for the Saudi-led move to punish Qatar, saying it could be the start of the end of terrorism in the Middle East. He noted that during his recent trip to Saudi Arabia, Arab leaders he’d met with had joined in warning about Qatari support for terrorism.

Since Saudi Arabia and other nations cut off diplomatic relations with Qatar on Monday, triggering the worst diplomatic crisis in the Gulf in years, the U.S. military has insisted that it would not affect U.S. military operations in the region. The U.S. has roughly 10,000 troops in Qatar, and relies on a major base there as the staging ground for operations in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.

But Tillerson said the crisis was indeed affecting the U.S. military.

“The blockage is hindering U.S. military action in the region, and the campaign against ISIS,” Tillerson said, using an acronym for the extremist group.

Qatar has long denied supporting or funding terror groups. But Western diplomats accuse Qatar’s government of allowing or even encouraging the funding of some Sunni extremists, such as al-Qaida’s branch in Syria.

Tillerson’s efforts to mediate came as Qatar’s neighbors put 12 organizations and 59 people on a terror sanctions list and described them as being associated with Qatar, in a fresh attempt to increase pressure. Qatar dismissed the terror listing as part of “baseless allegations that hold no foundation in fact.”