FMs of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain to discuss Qatar row with Tillerson tomorrow

The foreign ministers of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Bahrain will meet tomorrow in Jeddah with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to discuss the four countries’ ongoing diplomatic row with Qatar, the Egyptian foreign ministry announced on Tuesday.

Foreign ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said that Egyptian FM Sameh Shoukry will head to Saudi Arabia upon the invitation of his Saudi counterpart Adel Al-Jubeir to attend the meeting with Tillerson following Shoukry’s return from the Ivory Coast’s Abidjan.

“This meeting comes in the frame of coordinating stances and reaffirming solidarity between the four countries over future steps on the relationship with Qatar,” the statement said, with Abu Zeid stressing that the four countries still stand by their anti-Qatar measures.

Wednesday’s meeting will come one day after Tillerson said during a visit to Qatar that the Gulf country has “reasonable views” in the diplomatic dispute with its Arab neighbours, adding that he was hopeful of progress towards a resolution.

Last month, the four Arab states severed diplomatic ties and transport links with Qatar, accusing the oil-rich Gulf state of supporting terrorism and meddling in their internal affairs. Doha has denied the accusations.