Omani FM meets Kuwaiti emir amid ongoing Gulf crisis

By Ahmed al-Masri

KUWAIT CITY (AA) - Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah on Tuesday held talks with Omani Foreign Minister Yousuf bin Alawi in Kuwait City.

The meeting was also attended by Kuwaiti Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Khalid al-Hamad al-Sabah, according to Kuwait’s official KUNA news agency.

The news agency gave no further details about what was discussed at the meeting.

Bin Alawi's visit to Kuwait comes one day after Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammad bin Abdulrahman al-Thani handed over his country's response to a list of demands made by four Arab states -- which early last month imposed an embargo on Qatar -- to Kuwaiti officials.

Kuwait is now expected to relay that response, which has not yet been disclosed, to the four Arab states before midnight Tuesday.

On June 5, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain all abruptly cut diplomatic ties with Qatar, accusing Doha of interfering in their domestic affairs and supporting terrorist groups.

The four states later presented Qatar with a list of 13 demands, including the closure of pan-Arab news broadcaster Al Jazeera, which they said must be met before the embargo is lifted.

The four states gave Doha a 10-day deadline -- which expired on Sunday -- by which to comply with their demands.

On Sunday, the four states agreed to extend the deadline by an additional 48-hours to Tuesday.