Importers delivered 165 Holstein dairy cows - the first of 4,000 bovines set for shipment to Qatar - late Tuesday. Originally from Germany, the cows arrived from Budapest, where they had previously been milked, a spokesman for the Baladna agricultural company told the German press agency dpa.

The company transported the cows from the airport in Qatar's capital, Doha, to a purpose-built dairy farm that has capacity for 4,000 animals. The Baladna spokesman said the company would import the next group of cows as soon as the next few days and that the dairy cow imports would come from Germany, Australia and the United States.

Last month, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates launched a boycott of Qatar, accusing the country of supporting terrorism and criticizing its ties to Iran, forcing the Persian Gulf emirate to seek new trade routes. In order to supply the population with dairy, which had previously come from Saudi Arabia, Qatar had begun importing products from Turkey.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is in the Middle East in an effort to end the dispute. On Tuesday, he said Qatar's government had been "reasonable."

mkg/rt (dpa, Welt)