Terror finance monitoring system eyed

His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah receives US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

ISTANBUL/DOHA, July 10, (Agencies): US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson arrived in Kuwait on Monday for talks aimed at resolving the crisis triggered by the cutoff of links with Qatar by Saudi Arabia and Arab allies.In Doha, a Western diplomat said creation of a “terror finance monitoring mechanism” would feature in the talks, but declined to elaborate. Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UAE and Egypt imposed sanctions last month, accusing Doha of aiding terrorism, something it denies.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. He was flying from Istanbul where he attended an international petroleum conference. R.C. Hammond, a senior adviser to Tillerson, 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. The crisis has hit travel, food imports to Qatar, ratcheted up tensions in the Gulf and sown confusion among businesses, while pushing Qatar closer to Iran and Turkey which have offered support.The United States worries the crisis could affect its military and counter-terrorism operations and increase the regional influence of Tehran, which has been supporting Qatar by allowing it to use air and sea links through its territory.Qatar hosts Udeid Air Base, the largest US military facility in the Middle East, from which US-led coalition aircraft stage sorties against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. US President Donald Trump has expressed support for Saudi Arabia in the dispute. Hammond said it was critical that not only Qatar, but Riyadh and its allies take steps to halt any financial support flowing to extremists groups, especially following the defeat of Islamic State in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. “It’s a two-way street,” he said.“There are no clean hands here.” “We want progress on terrorism financing. The president strongly believes that if you cut off financing, you cut off the ability of terror to take hold in new areas,” Hammond said. Moreover, he said, “the longer that this struggle is in place, the more opportunity there is for Iran.”Riyadh appreciatesSaudi Arabia on Monday highly appreciated His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah for his sincere efforts seeking to solve the Gulf crisis. The Saudi cabinet met Monday under chairmanship of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman Bin Abdulaziz, who thanked His Highness the Amir’s keenness on the Gulf and Arab unity, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.Several Arab and foreign countries have reiterated support to His Highness the Amir’s meditation efforts. Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has expressed his support for Kuwait’s efforts to resolve the Gulf crisis.Hurriyet Daily News quoted the president as saying upon his arrival from the G-20 summit in Hamburg that Kuwait was playing the role of mediator in the matter, adding that he would embark on a Gulf tour to contribute to the resumption of  dialogue between the two sides. “We are planning to visit Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia specifically in a diplomatic tour after July 15,” he said, marking the first anniversary of the failed coup attempt. He said he discussed the Gulf crisis with his US and Russian counterparts Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin and assured all the leaders he met on the sidelines of the G-20 summit the need to find a solution to the crisis through dialogue.Support for mediationOman and Qatar said Monday they supported mediation of His Highness the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al- Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah to solve the Gulf crisis. This came during a meeting between Omani and Qatari foreign ministers, Yusuf Abdullah and Sheikh Mohammad al-Thani respectively, the official ONA news agency reported. The two ministers hoped Kuwait’s mediation would help solve the Gulf crisis in a way that would preserve security and stability of the GCC, and its common action, added ONA.Earlier today Sultan of Oman Qaboos Bin Saeed received a letter from Qatari Amir Tamim Bin Hamad al- Thani, dealing with bilateral relations and issues of mutual concern. Asaad Bin Qariq, Oman’s Deputy Prime Minister for International Affairs and special representative of the Omani Sultan was handed the letter by Sheikh Mohammad.Kuwait is turning into a political center this coming week, with highprofile Arab and foreign officials arriving and holding talks in light of mediating efforts led by His Highness the Amir to solve the dispute between Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and the UAE on one side and Qatar on the other.Boris Johnson, British Foreign Secretary, visited Kuwait while US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson arrived earlier in the north Gulf state in yet another attempt to tackle the dispute. German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel also visited the region, including Kuwait.The three men threw their weight behind the Kuwaiti mediation. Within the framework of the mediation efforts, His Highness the Amir had paid visits to Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar, where he held constructive talks with leaders there, who in turn, warmly welcomed the initiative.$340 bln in reservesQatar has $340 billion in reserves including holdings of its sovereign wealth fund that could help the Gulf country to weather the isolation by its powerful Arab neighbours, central bank governor Sheikh Abdullah Bin Saoud al-Thani told CNBC. “This is the credibility of our system, we have enough cash to preserve any ... kind of shock,” he told the news channel in an interview published early on Monday on its website. Al-Thani said the central bank has $40 billion in reserves plus gold, while the Qatar Investment Authority has $300 billion in reserves that it could liquidate.Qatari stocks have weakened and the riyal has been volatile in the spot market since Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut diplomatic and transport ties with Qatar on June 5, accusing it of backing terrorism. Dona has denied these allegations. “Qatar has already had a good and unique system. We have laws established against all these kinds of terrorists ,” al-Thani told CNBC. “We work with the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and other institutions to establish our laws and audits and reviews.”“We have no challenges, we welcome those to review all our books, they are open,” he added. Al-Thani said while the central bank has noticed fund outfl ows from some non-residents, the amounts weren’t particularly significant.“There is more coming in,” he said, confirming that infl ows are exceeding outfl ows. He said long-term contracts in the gas and oil sectors were not seeing any disruptions. Rating agency Moody’s Investors Service earlier this month changed the outlook on Qatar’s credit rating to negative from stable, citing economic and financial risks arising from the ongoing dispute between Qatar and the Saudi-led alliance. Despite the market ructions, economists say Qatar, the world’s top liquefied natural gas exporter, has taken a number of measures such as a planned boost in gas output and new transport routes to weather the crisis.Exports not affectedQatar’s exports to Japan, India, South Korea and China have not been affected by a boycott of Doha by four Arab states, Energy Minister Mohammed al-Sada said in a statement on Monday. He said Qatar’s exports to the four Asian countries accounted for nearly three quarters of the country’s total exports. Exports to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, countries imposing sanctions on Qatar, accounted for less than eight percent, the statement said, citing comments made by the minister at an energy conference in Istanbul. Qatar remains “committed to all its agreements with its partners and is determined to maintain this status despite the illegal and unjust embargo imposed on it,” the statement said, referring to its exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and other agreements.Joint ventureState-owned Qatar Petroleum and French energy giant Total will formally launch a 25-year joint venture to develop the Al Shaheen oil field this week, the companies said Monday. The North Oil Company, to be launched on Tuesday, will be made up of a 70 percent stake from QP and a 30 percent stake from Total, which is taking over operations from Maersk Oil, according to a statement released by Qatar Petroleum. The site it will develop is located some 80 kms (50 miles) off Qatar’s northeast coast and lies over the North Field, one of the world’s largest oil and gas fields.While the contract was announced last year, the launch comes amid the worst crisis to hit Qatar, the world’s largest exporter of natural gas, in years. Despite its regional isolation, Qatar has said it can survive what it has called a “blockade”.Qatar Petroleum last week announced it would increase natural gas production by 30 percent by 2024. The signing of the Total contract also comes amid reports that Saudi Arabia and the UAE may pressure international companies to either do business with them or with Qatar. The deal comes in the same month that Total defied US pressure to sign a multi-billion gas contract with Iran on July 3, the first by a European firm with Tehran in more than a decade.