AFTER BACKING DIPLOMATIC ISOLATION OF QATAR, TRUMP OFFERS HELP

DOHA— President Donald Trump called Qatar’s emir on Wednesday and offered US help as efforts grew to resolve a damaging feud between the emirate and its Gulf neighbors.

Trump’s call to Qatari ruler Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, a key US ally, came as a senior Emirati official said Gulf Arab states were not seeking regime change in Doha.

“The president offered to help the parties resolve their differences, including through a meeting at the White House if necessary,” Trump’s office said after the call.

A Qatari official said Trump had “expressed readiness to find a solution to the diplomatic crisis in the Gulf and stressed his keenness that the Gulf remains stable.”

Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain announced on Monday they were cutting diplomatic ties and closing air, sea and land links with Qatar, giving Qataris within their borders two weeks to leave.

The four countries have suspended all flights to and from Qatar, pulled their ambassadors from Doha and ordered Qatari diplomats to leave.

Riyadh and its allies accuse Qatar of supporting extremist groups and of serving the interests of regional archrival Iran, which Doha had strongly rejected.

The dispute had sparked the worst diplomatic crisis in the Arab world in years and raised fears it will cause further instability in an alreadyvolatile region.

The UAE’s state minister for foreign affairs Anwar Gargash on Wednesday accused Qatar of being “the main champion of extremism and terrorism in the region.”—