Qatar Diplomatic Crisis Continues To Reverberate Across Middle East

“The President reiterated that a united Gulf Cooperation Council and a strong United States-Gulf Cooperation Council partnership are critical to defeating terrorism and promoting regional stability”, the statement added.

The list also included Wagdi Ghoneim, a 66-year-old Egyptian preacher believed to be now residing in Turkey, who also received a death sentence in absentia earlier this year for inciting to murder of security forces and Christians in Egypt.

U.S. President Donald Trump has stepped up his pressure against Qatar, singling out the Persian Gulf state for its alleged funding of extremists, while appearing to contradict his chief diplomat who earlier sought to defuse the crisis.

Al-Jazeera offices have been shut down by authorities in Saudi Arabia and Jordan. I’ve decided, along with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, our great generals, and military people, the time has come to call on Qatar to end its funding.

“The emir of Qatar has made progress in halting financial support and expelling terrorist elements from his country”.

The article quoted Qatar’s Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani as cautioning against confrontation with Iran, as well as defending the Palestinian group Hamas and Hezbollah, a Lebanese Shia movement allied with Tehran.

On Thursday the four countries issued a list of individuals and entities they said had “terrorist” links to Qatar, in their first joint statement since severing ties with Doha.

Riyadh has itself faced accusations of tolerating or even supporting extremists, in particular after the 11 September 2001 attacks on the United States, with 14 out of 19 attackers holding Saudi nationality (none were Qatari).

On Friday, Qatar’s foreign minister described the blockade as a violation of global law and said there was an attempt to mobilise worldwide opinion against the Gulf emirate.

“We have been isolated because we are successful and progressive”.

He said there have been multiple reports issued by official agencies in the USA “commending our role in combating terror financing”.

If accurate, the allegations would indicate Russian efforts to undermine U.S. foreign policy, building on USA intelligence concerns that Russian hackers attempted to influence last year’s presidential election, won by Trump.

Qatar is heavily dependent on food imports and the crisis has led to stockpiling and shortages.

“No civilized nation can tolerate this violence or allow this wicked ideology to spread on its shores”, Trump told reporters at the Rose Garden in the White House, where he was holding a joint news conference with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis.