Tillerson faces tough talks in Persian Gulf to try to solve Qatar crisis

King of Saudi Arabia, Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, during a meeting with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in Jeddah Saudi

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will have difficulty persuading four Arab states to end a boycott of Qatar during talks on Wednesday as the four have classified an agreement between the US and Qatar on terrorist financing as An inadequate response to their concerns.

Any resolution of the dispute has to address all the main fears of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt, including the fact that Doha is undermining regional stability, a senior official in the Emirates said before the talks on Saudi soil.

The four countries imposed sanctions on Qatar on June 5, accusing it of funding extremist groups and allying with Iran, the arch-enemy of the four Arab countries - charges that Doha denies. The four states and Qatar are allies of the United States.

Tillerson will meet with his counterparts from four nations in Jeddah, the port city of the Red Sea, and carry forward efforts to close the worst rift between Arab Gulf states since the formation of the regional Gulf Cooperation Council in 1981.

Shortly after Tillerson signed a memorandum of understanding on the fight against terrorist financing in Doha on Tuesday, the four countries issued a statement in which they described it as inadequate.

They also reiterated the 13 broad demands they had originally submitted to Qatar, but later said they were no longer valid.

These include severing ties with Iran, closing the Al Jazeera television network, closing a Turkish military base in Qatar and handing over all those designated as terrorists present in its territory.

The four countries involved in the boycott said in a joint report that they value US efforts to fight terrorism.

"Such a measure is not enough and they will closely monitor the seriousness of Qatar in combating all forms of financing, support and fomenting of terrorism," the statement said, according to WAM, the Emirates news agency.

Qatar hosts Udeid Air Base, the largest US military facility in the Middle East, from which US-led coalition aircraft conduct operations against the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.