Arab Analyst:

Trump, Tillerson's Contradictory Stances Not to Help Qatar Crisis

Rasa - Abdel Bari Atwan, the editor-in-chief of Ray al-Youm newspaper, described US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's upcoming visit to Riyadh and Doha as a failure, and said the contradictory stances adopted by him and President Donald Trump will not help resolve the crisis created between Qatar and other Saudi-led Persian Gulf Arab states.

News ID: 433334

Date: 22 October 2017 - 22:03

RNA - "The four countries which have boycotted Qatar don’t trust Tillerson so much and see him as a supporter of their Qatari rival, specially after he inked an anti-terrorism agreement with Doha two months ago which exonerated Qatar of accusations related to supporting the terrorist groups," Atwan wrote on Sunday.

Raising the possibility that it will be Tillerson's last visit to the Persian Gulf region, he said his positions on the Qatar crisis run counter to Trump's stances as the US president prefers to join the group of countries which have boycotted Doha as a backup for his strategy against Iran.

Atwan concluded that the contradictory and confusing stances of Tillerson and Trump cannot help resolve the Qatar crisis.

Tillerson will arrive in Saudi Arabia on Friday.

In his first trip to the Middle East since July, which includes a stop in Doha, Tillerson will meet leaders from both sides of the Qatar dispute and discuss counter-terrorism efforts.

The week-long tour will also include Islamabad, New Delhi and Geneva, the State Department said.

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