Seven months ago, an air, sea and land blockade were imposed on Qatar by neighbouring countries. Here are the latest developments
Al Udeid base
On Monday, Qatar’s Defence Minister Khalid bin Mohammad al-Attiyah said that Qatar will expand the American airbase at Al Udeid.
“It will very soon become family oriented place for our American friends there. We want more of the families to be stable and feel more comfortable in their stay,” Attiyah said at an event in Washington.
Qatar-US dialogue
On Tuesday, The US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called on all sides in the dispute to work to calm tensions, saying a united Gulf Cooperation Council bolstered regional stability.
“It is critical that all parties minimise rhetoric, exercise restraint to avoid further escalation and work toward a resolution,” Tillerson said.
On Tuesday, a US-Qatar strategic dialogue initiative will kick off in Washington, Qatar’s News Agency (QNA) reported.
According to a government statement, the initiative is aimed at stepping up cooperation between the two countries, “which share long-standing strategic interests at the political, economic, security, educational and cultural levels”.
Asian Champions League
On Saturday, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said it rejected Saudi Arabia’s request to have all matches against Qatar moved to a neutral territory.
“Clubs from Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates should be played on a home and away basis in 2018 as per the AFC regulations,” AFC said in a statement published on its website.
Source: Aljazeera.com
