Arab states in rift with Qatar laud Trump’s support
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Arab states that have laid virtual siege on Qatar praised U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday for enthusiastically supporting their stance when he called on the Gulf state to stop “the funding of terrorism.”
Trump has aligned himself closely with Saudi Arabia and an allied bloc of Arab countries since taking office. His comments Friday firmly positioned Washington in the camp of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, which severed ties with Qatar this week and accused it of sponsoring terrorism.
Speaking from the White House Rose Garden, Trump said Qatar “has historically been a funder of terrorism at a very high level.”
“The time had come to call on Qatar to end its funding — they have to end that funding — and its extremist ideology in terms of funding,” Trump said.
The row has sparked one of the worst political crises in decades among some of Washington’s closest Mideast allies.
Qatar denies it backs extremist groups and says the allegations are politically motivated and intended to tarnish the country’s image. Qatar has ties with Iran and has supported Islamist groups, like the Muslim Brotherhood. Saudi Arabia, however, is locked in a regional power struggle with Iran. Gulf monarchies and Egypt’s government also view Islamist groups as a threat to their rule.
Qatar, however, is not entirely without support. Turkey has offered to provide food and medicine to help ease its isolation.
On Saturday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said his country hoped the rift between the “Muslim countries” would end “through peaceful dialogue before the religious holiday,” referring to Eid al-Fitr which marks the end of Ramadan. He was speaking as his Bahraini counterpart met with Turkey’s president in Ankara.
Explaining Turkey’s stake in the conflict, Cavusoglu said, “we see threats toward the Gulf region as threats toward us.”
In Moscow, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said his country will undertake every effort to help ease the tensions. He was speaking at a meeting in Moscow Saturday with Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.
Trump too had offered possible mediation earlier in the week.
The four Arab states upped their pressure on Qatar on Friday by listing 12 organizations and 59 people on a terror sanctions list. They had already earlier in the week blocked direct flights between their countries and Qatar. Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the UAE also prohibited Qatari flights from using their airspace. Additionally, Saudi Arabia sealed shut Qatar’s only land border, impacting a significant source of food imports for the peninsula nation.
In separate statements Saturday, they lauded Trump for his supportive stance. A statement from Egypt’s presidency said President AbdelFattah el-Sissi and Trump spoke by phone on Friday and that elSissi thanked him for his role in “the formation of a united front to combat terrorism.”
The UAE issued a statement welcoming Trump’s “leadership in challenging Qatar’s troubling support for extremism. Saudi Arabia’s state-run news agency carried an official statement welcoming Trump’s remarks, adding that cutting off terrorism funding “required decisive and swift action... regardless of its financier.”