Saudi demands for Qatar not viable, US says

Saudi Arabia’s pre-conditions for restoring diplomatic and economic relations with Qatar are not realistic, even if some elements could form the basis for an eventual deal, the senior adviser to US secretary of state Rex Tillerson has said.

Tillerson arrived in Kuwait on Monday for talks aimed at resolving the crisis triggered by the cut-off of links with Qatar by Saudi Arabia and Arab allies.

The State Department said Tillerson, who forged extensive ties in the Gulf as CEO of ExxonMobil, would hold talks with leaders in Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UAE and Egypt imposed sanctions on Qatar last month, accusing Doha of aiding terrorism, something it denies.

In Doha, a Western diplomat said creation of a "terror finance monitoring mechanism" would feature in the talks, but declined to elaborate.

Tillerson’s communications adviser, RC Hammond, said the complete set of Saudi demands were not viable even though constituent elements were worth discussing. He said he would explore ways to end a stalemate following Qatar's rejection of 13 demands issued as condition for ending sanctions.

"The trips to Saudi Arabia and Qatar are about the art of the possible," said Hammond, who added that the 13 demands "are done" and "are not worth revisiting as a package. Individually there are things in there that could work".

The demands included the closing of Al Jazeera, the Qatar-based pan-Arab television network, and a Turkish military base in Qatar. Saudi Arabia and its backers, which accuse Al Jazeera of being a platform for extremists and an agent of interference in their affairs, have threatened further sanctions against the emirate. Al Jazeera denies the allegations.

Riyadh and its allies accuse Qatar of financing extremist groups and allying with Iran, the Gulf Arab states' regional rival. Qatar denies that it supports militant organizations, and many experts see the blockade as an attempt by Saudi Arabia to rein in Qatar’s increasingly independent foreign policy.

Hammond added, however, that the international community was losing patience with the Gulf’s funding of extremist groups. Hammond said that at the G20 summit last week, European countries had voiced their concern that the Gulf crisis was affecting security efforts and that all countries in the region needed to act against terror funding.

“This is a two-way street,” he said. “There are no clean hands.”