US President Donald Trump said yesterday he thought the dispute between Qatar and some of its Arab neighbours would be resolved quickly.
“We are right now in a situation where we’re trying to solve a problem in the Middle East. And I think we’ll get it solved, I have a very strong feeling that it will be solved pretty quickly,” Trump said in New York as he met His Highness the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani.
The Emir met Trump on the sidelines of the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly.
His Highness the Emir said relationship with the US is very strong.
Welcoming Sheikh Tamim, the US leader said it was his great honour to be with the Emir of Qatar. “And we’ve been friends a long time; people don’t realise that. We know each other for a long time.”
Besides the Gulf crisis, “we’re talking, also, trade and many other things,” Trump said. “And we’ve had a tremendous relationship for the last short period of time, especially since our meeting in Saudi Arabia, which I think was an epic and very important – really a very historic meeting. And now we want to make the most of it by getting things settled. But we also want to continue trade and many other things. So we look forward to our meetings and our individual meetings, and – for many years to come.”
The Emir said the relationship between the United States of America and Qatar “is a very strong relationship, a historic relationship”. “And since we met in Riyadh, which was, as you said, a very, very important meeting, and we signed those agreements – we were the first country to respond to this agreement, and we signed this MoU of counter-terrorism.
“So we really appreciate this relationship, Mr. President. We have a lot to talk about – trade, military co-operation, security co-operation.”
The Emir said the US president’s intervention would help solve the crisis. “We’ve always said that we’re very open for dialogue, and we’ll always be open for dialogue.”
The Gulf crisis erupted after Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut ties with Qatar, accusing it of supporting extremism . Qatar has vehemently denied the charges as baseless and the accusers have not been able to produce any evidence to support their allegations.
Emir meets Italian prime minister
His Highness the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani met yesterday with Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni on the sidelines of the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly in New York.
The meeting reviewed bilateral ties between the two countries and means of developing them, in addition to exchanging views on the different political developments internationally as well as the latest developments in the Middle East region, particularly the situation in Libya. Meanwhile, HE the Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani met with his Romanian counterpart Teodor Melescanu on the sidelines of the UN
General Assembly session .
The meeting reviewed bilateral relations between the two countries and means of boosting them, in addition to the developments of the Gulf crisis, efforts of the Kuwaiti mediation and developments on the regional front.