WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — On June 5, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates severed diplomatic relations with Qatar. The states accused Qatar of supporting terrorist groups, particularly the Muslim Brotherhood terrorist movement, as well as of interfering in other countries' domestic affairs. Libya made a similar decision. Yemen cut diplomatic relations citing Doha's links with Houthis. The Maldives took the same step, citing extremism and terrorism concerns.
"We certainly would encourage the parties to sit down together and address these differences, and we — if there’s any role that we can play in terms of helping them address those, we think it is important that the GCC remain unified," Tillerson stated.
He noted that he does not expect the development to affect the fight against terrorism in the region and globally.
"All of those parties you mentioned have been quite, quite unified in the fight against terrorism and the fight against Daesh, and have expressed that most recently in the summit in Riyadh," Tillerson said.
On Monday, the Qatari Foreign Ministry said in a statement it rejects the GCC' accusations of its interference in other countries' domestic affairs.
