Top US diplomat lands in Qatar, hoping to help end Gulf rift

DOHA, Qatar — US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is in Qatar on a mission to break the deadlock between the tiny, energy-rich Gulf nation and four Arab neighbors that is seriously straining relations among the American allies.

The visit is Tillerson’s second stop on a shuttle-diplomacy circuit that is also expected to take him to Saudi Arabia, which shares Qatar’s only land border and is the most powerful of the four countries lined up against it.

He meets with Qatar’s 37-year-old emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, upon arrival in sweltering Doha.

The pair is joined by Qatar’s foreign minister as well as the emir’s brother, Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad Al Thani, a key point person for the United States on counterterrorism issues.

The four nations broke off relations with Qatar and cut air, sea and land routes with it in early June and have accused Qatar of supporting extremist groups. They later issued a 13-point list of demands to restore relations and gave Doha 10 days to comply. The demands include Qatar shutting down news outlets, including the media network Al-Jazeera, cutting ties with Islamist groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood, limiting ties with Iran and expelling Turkish troops stationed in the country.

— AP