UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson meets Qatar Emir Sheikh Tamim, criticising blockade against Doha

The Britain's foreign secretary has met with Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani in the latest effort to mediate the Gulf diplomatic crisis, Qatar state media has reported.

Boris Johnson met with Sheikh Tamim late on Saturday at the al-Bahr place in Doha after the top diplomat visited Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to meet with senior representatives of the Saudi-led allies against Qatar.

Johnson and the Emir "discussed the latest developments of the [Gulf] crisis and its implications in terms of regional and international stability," Qatar News Agency [QNA] reported.

Johnson stressed that Britain was supporting Kuwait's efforts to broker a solution to the row which has seen Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain cut ties with Qatar.

Earlier the foreign secretary met his Qatari counterpart, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, to discuss "unilateral measures" taken against Qatar by the Saudi-led quartet.

Johnson "stressed that enforcing unilateral measures against the State of Qatar was against the Charter of the United Nations and a severe violation of international law", QNA reported.

On Saturday, Johnson was in Kuwait to meet with his Kuwaiti counterpart Sheikh Sabah Khaled al-Hamad al-Sabah, and the country’s cabinet affairs minister Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah al-Sabah.

On Friday, he met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan.

In June, the four states announced the severing of all diplomatic ties with Qatar over allegations the emirate allegedly bankrolled Islamist extremists and had close ties with Saudi Arabia's arch-rival Iran. Qatar denies these allegations.

Then, on June 22, they issued a list of demands, which includes the shutting down of Doha-based Al Jazeera channel and the London-based The New Arab, in order to lift the sanctions.

Qatar, which denies being a supporter of extremism, rejected the "unrealistic" demands as an attempt by the Gulf states to undermine the nation's sovereignty.