The top Washington diplomat visited Doha for the first time since the Afghan Peace Talks in September.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has met with Qatar’s Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, as well as the country’s Foreign Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, on Saturday as part of his Middle East tour.
Pompeo’s visit to Qatar, which came after a stop in the UAE, saw the discussion of key issues including the ongoing Afghan peace talks.
During his last visit back in September, the Secretary of State landed in Doha for the “historic” peace talks between the US, the Afghan government and the Taliban, where politicians seemed hopeful of nearing an end to the warring that has ravaged the country.
With the peace talks seemingly stalled, Pompeo met with the Afghan government and Taliban delegation in two separate meetings to discuss ways that all parties can “increase the probability of a successful outcome”.
Moreover, the Pentagon has recently said it will pull at least 2,000 troops out of Afghanistan in attempts of completing a previous Washington-Taliban agreement, signed in February in hopes of a complete US withdrawal by 2021.
Read also: Top US security official says he hopes air-blockade on Qatar will be lifted ‘in the next 70 days’
The Trump Administration has also been keen on trying to make other accomplishments in what appears to be the President’s final weeks in office; there have been more efforts to resolve other issues, including the GCC Crisis.
In a recent statement by US National Security Advisor, Robert O’Brien, he expressed his hope that Saudi and Bahraini air space would open for Qatar Airways flights within “70 days”.
“We felt that solving the air link issue, where Qatar Airways is able to fly over Saudi and Bahraini airspace is an important first step in solving that rift. I would like to see that done before, if we end up leaving the office, the next 70 days,” he said.
O’Brien added that resolving the crisis serves America’s interest and that it will bring “real economic opportunities across the Middle East”.
“There is no winner out of this crisis and all of us are losing,” he added.
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