Qatar fans are pictured ahead of the FIFA World Cup qatar 2022. (Credit: Marko Djurica/Reuters)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Qatar next week for diplomatic talks including on human rights issues and to attend the US team's opening World Cup match, the State Department announced Friday.
Blinken will be in the Gulf state on Monday and Tuesday for the fifth annual US-Qatar Strategic Dialogue, meeting senior Qatari officials, including Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, according to a State Department announcement.
They will discuss regional security cooperation, human rights, climate change, and economic and health issues, according to the announcement.
Host of global football's premier event, wealthy Qatar has come under heavy criticism of its treatment of foreign workers and its rights restrictions on women and the LGBTQ community.
Blinken will be the highest-level US official to attend the tournament, which opens Sunday.
The State Department said he "will be cheering on the US men's national team in its first game of the World Cup, as the United States takes on Wales."
The Group B match will be held Monday at the Ahmad Bin Ali stadium.
Blinken will be in the Gulf state on Monday and Tuesday for the fifth annual US-Qatar Strategic Dialogue, meeting senior Qatari officials,...