CAIRO – The Middle East tour of U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was notsuccessful as it hasnot fully achieved its goals, experts said.
Pompeo on Monday cut short his Middle East tour over a family funeral.
“Secretary Pompeo will return to the United States after his meetings inMuscat, Oman,” StateDepartment Deputy Spokesman Robert Palladino said in an emailed statement.”This curtailmentof travel is required so that the Pompeo family may attend a familyfuneral.”
The U.S. top diplomat’s tour covered Jordan, Egypt, Bahrain, the UnitedArab Emirates (UAE), Iraq,Saudi Arabia, Oman and Qatar.
Palladino said Pompeo will look to visit Kuwait at an agreeable time inthe near future.
“The main goal of the visit is to establish an Arab alliance… thereare other minor goals, of course,” Noha Bakir, professor of political sciences with the AmericanUniversity in Cairo, toldXinhua.
Based on that main objective, the countries of the tour were carefullychosen, she said, addingthe most important pillar for building that alliance was to bring Qatarback to the Arab alliance.
While in Qatar, Pompeo called for ending the continuing crisis betweenQatar and mainly itsGulf neighbors.
“We are all more powerful when we are working together and disputes arelimited. When we havea common challenge, disputes between countries with shared objectives arenever helpful,”Pompeo told reporters in Doha.
“There is no consensus among the Arabs to resolve the Qatari crisis. Thepriorities of the Arabcountries on Iran are also completely different,” Bakir said.
Delivering a major speech at the American University in Cairo onThursday, Pompeo said countriesof the Middle East will never enjoy security, achieve economic stability,or advance dreams of theirpeoples if Iran’s regime persists on its current course.
While Pompeo focused on forming an alliance to defy Iran’s influence, theEgyptian Foreign MinisterSameh Shoukry focused on combating terrorism in all its forms, she said,stressing that Pompeo didnot touch upon the Palestinian cause, which is the main priority for Egypt.
She explained that Pompeo’s visit wasn’t successful as aspired by the U.S.side, adding that his tourwas met with Arab dissatisfaction in general.
Meanwhile, professor of political sciences with Cairo University, TariqFahmy, said Pompeo’s visit has not brought successful results “because theU.S. side wanted only to focus on the political vacuum in Syria and theArabregion, as well as Qatari crisis.”
“The agendas of Arab countries forced Pompeo to get far from his own agendaduring his tour,” Fahmy toldXinhua. “Pompeo came to market the U.S. administration policies as thepower that rescues the Arabregion, while the Arabs delivered a message that they can handle their ownproblems.” – APP/Xinhua