Tillerson in Kuwait to talk about efforts to resolve Gulf dispute
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson extended his overseas travel Monday to "discuss ongoing efforts to resolve the Gulf dispute," according to the State Department.
Tillerson traveled to Kuwait on Monday where he met with senior Kuwaiti officials to discuss the crisis, and plans to travel to Doha, Qatar Tuesday and Saudi Arabia on Wednesday to meet with senior officials. The secretary is expected to return to Washington Friday night.
During a photo op Monday with Tillerson, the Kuwaiti Emir indicated he would be traveling to Washington in September.
"Please send my regards to the President and hopefully I'll get to meet with him in September at his invitation," the Emir said.
"We look forward to your visit in September, I know it will be a very good meeting, the president looks forward to greeting you, seeing you in Washington, as do I," Tillerson responded.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain cut off ties with Qatar on June 5, restricting access to their airspace and ports and sealing Qatar's only land border, which it shares with Saudi Arabia.
They issued a 13-point list of demands, including curbing diplomatic ties to Iran, severing ties with the Muslim Brotherhood and shuttering the Al-Jazeera news network, but Qatar has rejected the demands. The other nations accuse Qatar of supporting regional terror groups, a charge Qatar denies.
CBS News' Kylie Atwood contributed to this report.
