Biden’s top Mideast adviser meets with Qatari leaders in Doha

By AP 27 August 2024, 10:29 pm

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A handout photo shows Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani (2nd-R) meeting with US National Security Council Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa Brett McGurk (2nd-L) in Doha on November 19, 2023. (Qatar News Agency/AFP)

DOHA, Qatar — US President Joe Biden’s top Middle East adviser held talks in Doha today with senior Qatari leaders on the ongoing efforts to complete a ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas, according to a US official.

White House senior adviser Brett McGurk’s meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Foreign Affairs Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani comes after the prime minister traveled to Tehran to speak with Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian yesterday.

The talks also come as ongoing ceasefire talks to pause the war between Israel and Hamas are set to shift to Doha after several days of intense negotiations in Cairo.

The official, who was not authorized to discuss the sensitive talks and spoke on the condition of anonymity, confirms that McGurk met with the Qatari officials and discussed the negotiations and the prime minister’s recent meeting with Iran’s president.