Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman received a phone call on Friday from Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, state media from both countries reported, in what could be a breakthrough in the dispute between Doha and neighbouring Arab states.

DUBAI: Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman received a phone call on Friday from Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, state media from both countries reported, in what could be a breakthrough in the dispute between Doha and neighbouring Arab states.

"During the call, the Emir of Qatar expressed his desire to sit at the dialogue table and discuss the demands of the four countries to ensure the interests of all," Saudi state news agency SPA reported.

"The details will be announced later after the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia concludes an understanding with the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Bahrain and the Arab Republic of Egypt," SPA reported.</s>Qatari and Saudi leaders agree to assign envoys to resolve the diplomatic dispute, state media in both countries say.

The emir of Qatar and Saudi Arabia's crown prince have held a phone conversation to discuss a major diplomatic crisis in the Gulf, according to state media from both countries.

The call on Friday between by the Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi crown prince, is believed to be the first official contact between the two countries since the beginning of the crisis more than three months ago.

The call was held on the basis of coordination with US President Donald Trump, Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported in the early hours of Saturday.

In the phone call, the two leaders "stressed the need to resolve this crisis" through dialogue "to ensure the unity and stability" of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), said QNA.

The Qatari emir welcomed a proposal by the Saudi crown prince to assign two envoys to resolve the dispute in a way that respects the sovereignty of states, QNA added.

On June 5, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain severed relations with Qatar and imposed a blockade against, accusing Doha of funding "terrorism". Qatar has vehemently rejected the allegations as "baseless".

Saudi state news agency SPA also confirmed the phone call, adding the Qatar's emir "expressed his desire" to discuss the demands of the four blockading countries.

"The details will be announced later after the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia concludes an understanding with the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Bahrain and the Arab Republic of Egypt," it added.

On June 22, the group issued a 13-point list of demands, including the shutdown of Al Jazeera, limiting ties with Iran, and expelling Turkish troops stationed in the country as a prerequisite to lifting the blockade.

Doha rejected all the demands, denouncing them as attempts to infringe Qatar's sovereignty.</s>Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman received a phone call on Friday from Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, state media from both countries reported, in what could be a breakthrough in the dispute between Doha and neighbouring Arab states.

DUBAI: Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman received a phone call on Friday from Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, state media from both countries reported, in what could be a breakthrough in the dispute between Doha and neighbouring Arab states.

"During the call, the Emir of Qatar expressed his desire to sit at the dialogue table and discuss the demands of the four countries to ensure the interests of all," Saudi state news agency SPA reported.

"The details will be announced later after the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia concludes an understanding with the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Bahrain and the Arab Republic of Egypt," SPA reported.</s>DUBAI, Sept 9 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman received a phone call on Friday from Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, state media from both countries reported, in what could be a breakthrough in the dispute between Doha and neighboring Arab states.

"During the call, the Emir of Qatar expressed his desire to sit at the dialogue table and discuss the demands of the four countries to ensure the interests of all," Saudi state news agency SPA reported.

"The details will be announced later after the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia concludes an understanding with the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Bahrain and the Arab Republic of Egypt," SPA reported. (Reporting by Rania El Gamal; Editing by Chris Reese)</s>RIYADH — Qatar’s ruler phoned Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to express interest in talks to resolve a three-month-old diplomatic crisis, Saudi state media said early Saturday.

The crown prince “welcomed this desire,” the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported, adding “details will be announced after Saudi Arabia reaches an agreement with UAE and Bahrain and Egypt”, the Arab bloc that cut ties with Qatar in June.

The phone call by Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani​, came after US President Donald Trump offered on Thursday to mediate in the crisis, saying he believed the dispute could be solved “fairly easily.”

 They also shut down air, maritime and land links and imposed economic sanctions on Qatar.Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt announced on June 5 they had cut diplomatic and economic ties with Qatar, accusing it of bankrolling Islamist extremist groups and of being too close to Iran.

The gas-rich emirate denied the claims and accused the four countries of attacking its sovereignty.</s>Saudi Arabia says plans to hold talks with Qatar have been suspended, shortly after the emergence of reports that a phone call between Qatar's emir and the Saudi crown prince hinted at a potential breakthrough in a major diplomatic crisis in the Gulf.

The call on Friday between Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was the first official contact between Doha and Riyadh since the start of the crisis more than three months ago.

In the phone call, which was reported by state media from both countries, the two leaders expressed a willingness to discuss an end to the rift.

However, there seems to be a dispute over protocol - with some reports pointing to Qatar News Agency's (QNA) apparent failure to mention that it was Doha that had initiated the call.

READ MORE: Qatar-Gulf crisis - All the latest updates

In its report about the two leaders' call, QNA said that the phone conversation had been coordinated by US President Donald Trump.

In the phone discussion, Sheikh Tamim and Mohammed bin Salman "stressed the need to resolve this crisis" through dialogue "to ensure the unity and stability" of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), said QNA.

The Qatari emir welcomed a proposal by the Saudi crown prince to assign two envoys to resolve the dispute "in a way that does not affect the sovereignty of states", the Qatari news agency added.

'Suspension of dialogue'

On June 5, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain severed relations with Qatar and imposed a blockade against it, accusing Doha of funding "terrorism". Qatar has vehemently rejected the allegations as "baseless".

On June 22, the group issued a 13-point list of demands, including the shutdown of Al Jazeera, limiting ties with Iran, and expelling Turkish troops stationed in the country as a prerequisite to lifting the blockade. Doha rejected all the demands, denouncing them as attempts to infringe Qatar's sovereignty.

PROFILE: Who is Qatar's emir?

In what appeared to be a possible breakthrough, Saudi state news agency SPA initially issued a statement confirming Friday's phone conversation, saying that Sheikh Tamim had called Mohammed bin Salman and "expressed his desire" to discuss the demands of the four blockading countries.

"The details will be announced later after the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia concludes an understanding with the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Bahrain and the Arab Republic of Egypt," it added.

But SPA later issued a second statement, citing an unnamed official at the Ministry of the Foreign Affairs as saying that what QNA had published earlier in its report about the phone call was a "distortion of ... facts".

"The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia announces the suspension of any dialogue or communication with the authority in Qatar until a clear statement is issued clarifying its position in public," the second statement added.

Trump calls GCC leaders

The latest dispute came shortly after the White House issued a statement saying that Trump had spoken separately earlier on Friday with the Qatari and Saudi leaders, as well as UAE Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

In his phone calls, Trump told the Gulf leaders that unity among Washington's Arab allies was essential to promoting regional stability and countering the threat of Iran, the statement added.

"The president also emphasised that all countries must follow through on commitments from the Riyadh Summit to defeat terrorism, cut off funding for terrorist groups, and combat extremist ideology," it said.

PROFILE: Who is the Saudi crown prince?

Al Jazeera's Kimberly Halkett said there was "tremendous optimism" in Washington "over the fact that the White House had successfully coordinated the first official contact" between the GCC partners.

Yet, it was what happened after the phone call that "seems to be what has caused so much consternation", said Halkett, reporting from Washington, DC.

"The fact that there is an accusation by Saudi Arabia that Qatar's news agency misrepresented the facts, failing to report - in the eyes of the Saudis - that it was the emir of Qatar who initiated the phone call to Saudi Arabia's crown prince."

Mohammed Cherkaoui, a professor at George Mason University, said he was still optimistic about the call.

"I remain optimistic since there was a major turning point in the conflict itself, and I think now that we're watching the end of the escalation process that started three months ago," Cherkaoui told Al Jazeera.

"The latest news now that there is this resistance - this is normal because conflict escalation comes fast and mediation is very slow by its nature," he added.

Kuwaiti mediation

On Thursday, Trump held talks with the emir of Kuwait, who has been acting as a mediator to defuse the crisis, at the White House.

Speaking at a joint press conference after their meeting, Trump said that he supported Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah's mediation efforts, but added that if that did not manage to resolve the Gulf crisis, he would be "willing to be a mediator".

Later on Thursday, Trump also held a phone conversation with Sheikh Tamim. In the call, the Qatari emir expressed Doha's position on resolving "differences through constructive dialogue that does not affect the sovereignty of states", QNA said.

The GCC is an alliance of six Middle Eastern countries: Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman.</s>DUBAI: Saudi Arabia´s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman received a phone call on Friday from Qatar´s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, state media from both countries reported, in what could be a breakthrough in the dispute between Doha and neighboring Arab states.

"During the call, the Emir of Qatar expressed his desire to sit at the dialogue table and discuss the demands of the four countries to ensure the interests of all," Saudi state news agency SPA reported.

"The details will be announced later after the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia concludes an understanding with the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Bahrain and the Arab Republic of Egypt," SPA reported.

Later, Saudi Arabia declared any dialogue or communication with Qatar shall be suspended. Saudi Arabia denies Qatar news agency´s report, says phone call between Saudi Crown Prince and Qatar´s emir was based on Doha request for dialogue with the four countries on their demands, Saudi news agency SPA reported.</s>Qatar’s ruler phoned Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to express interest in talks to resolve a three-month-old diplomatic crisis, Saudi state media said early Saturday.

The crown prince “welcomed this desire,” the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported, adding “details will be announced after Saudi Arabia reaches an agreement with UAE and Bahrain and Egypt”, the Arab bloc that cut ties with Qatar in June.

The phone call by Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, came after US President Donald Trump offered on Thursday to mediate in the crisis, saying he believed the dispute could be solved “fairly easily.”

Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt announced on June 5 they had cut diplomatic and economic ties with Qatar, accusing it of bankrolling Islamist extremist groups and of being too close to Iran.

They also shut down air, maritime and land links and imposed economic sanctions on Qatar.

The gas-rich emirate denied the claims and accused the four countries of attacking its sovereignty.</s>The crown prince "welcomed this desire," the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported, adding "details will be announced after Saudi Arabia reaches an agreement with UAE and Bahrain and Egypt", the Arab bloc that cut ties with Qatar in June

Qatar's ruler phoned Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to express interest in talks to resolve a three-month-old diplomatic crisis, Saudi state media said early Saturday.

The crown prince "welcomed this desire," the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported, adding "details will be announced after Saudi Arabia reaches an agreement with UAE and Bahrain and Egypt", the Arab bloc that cut ties with Qatar in June.

The phone call by Qatar's emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, came after US President Donald Trump offered on Thursday to mediate in the crisis, saying he believed the dispute could be solved "fairly easily."

Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt announced on June 5 they had cut diplomatic and economic ties with Qatar, accusing it of bankrolling Islamist extremist groups and of being too close to Iran.

They also shut down air, maritime and land links and imposed economic sanctions on Qatar.

The gas-rich emirate denied the claims and accused the four countries of attacking its sovereignty.</s>Qatar’s emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani called Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud on Saturday to say he was ready for Gulf crisis talks, Sputnik reported, citing Saudi media.

The Qatari emir said he wanted to sit down at the negotiating table with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt to discuss their demands, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said.

The four states severed diplomatic ties and transport links with Doha in early June after accusing it of supporting terrorism in the region and interfering in their domestic affairs.

They issued Qatar with a 13-point ultimatum which required the small emirate to scale down relations with Iran, close a Turkish military base and shut Al Jazeera television channel. Qatar denied all allegations. It said the requests were too harsh and breached its sovereignty.
Qatar Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Than telephones Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman to discuss the three-month old crisis.