(FILE PHOTO)Former Commander of U.S. Central Command Gen. Anthony "Tony" Zinni (Ret.) speaks during a taping of "Meet the Press" at the NBC Studios in Washington. (REUTERS PHOTO)

DOHA, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- Two U.S. envoys arrive in the Gulf region this week to meet with officials there to help resolve a diplomatic crisis between Qatar and four other Arab countries that has lasted for more than 60 days, Qatar news agency(QNA) said.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt severed relations with Qatar on June 5, accusing it of supporting "terrorism." Qatar rejects the allegations as "baseless."

Timothy Lenderking, the U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for Gulf affairs, and retired U.S. Marine Corps General Anthony Zinni "are in the Gulf region this week to engage with the parties involved and support Kuwait's mediation efforts," QNA quoted a State Department official as saying.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, whose own trip to the Gulf in July resulted in a U.S.-Qatari accord on combating terrorism financing but no major breakthrough in the dispute, announced Zinni and Lenderking's mission last week.

Tillerson said that Zinni's presence would help maintain a constant pressure on the ground. He said "we are committed to seeing this disagreement resolved, restore Gulf unity, because it's important to the long-term effort to defeat terrorism in the region."

The diplomatic rift is the worst dispute in decades among the U.S.-allied Gulf Arab states, and came just days after President Donald Trump visited Saudi Arabia and touted U.S.-Arab unity in fighting terrorism finance and Iran's agenda in the region.

Qatar hosts the region's largest U.S. military base, where 11,000 Americans work. The U.S. Navy's 5th fleet is based in Bahrain, and U.S. surveillance planes fly from the United Arab Emirates.