Crisis at impasse as Qatar refuses to accept demands

WASHINGTON - The Donald Trump administration is being drawn further into the crisis engulfing Qatar and many of its Gulf Arab neighbors, a diplomatic tussle that it wanted to avoid.

Despite numerous US appeals for Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt to resolve their issues with Qatar on their own, the State Department said on Thursday that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson would visit the region next week in a bid to mediate a solution.

Spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Tillerson would visit Kuwait, which has been trying to broker an agreement, on Monday after stops in Ukraine and Turkey. She said Tillerson would meet with Kuwaiti officials, but his presence in the region leaves open the possibility that he may try to shuttle between the neighboring countries to forge a resolution.