US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson flew to the Middle East on Monday for talks aimed at resolving a crisis over the cutoff of diplomatic and transport links with Qatar by Saudi Arabia and three regional allies.

In Doha, a Western diplomat said creation of a "terror finance monitoring mechanism" would feature in the talks. Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE and Egypt imposed sanctions last month, accusing Doha of aiding terrorism.

The US State Department said Tillerson, who forged extensive ties in the Gulf as CEO of ExxonMobil, would hold talks with leaders in Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. He was flying from Istanbul where he attended an international petroleum conference.

R.C. Hammond, a senior adviser to Tillerson, said he would explore ways to end a stalemate following Qatar's rejection of 13 demands issued as condition for ending sanctions.

Source: Khaleej Times