The Cooperation Council for the Arab states of the Gulf was formed by Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
In a series of early-morning tweets, Trump appeared to endorse the accusation that the small, gas-rich kingdom funds terrorist groups, a serious allegation against a strategic USA partner that hosts a base with some 10,000 American troops.
The White House says President Donald Trump told Saudi Arabia's King Salman Tuesday that a united Gulf Cooperation Council is "critical to defeating terrorism and promoting regional stability".
"Strict and firm action will be taken against anyone who shows sympathy or any form of bias towards Qatar, or against anyone who objects to the position of the United Arab Emirates, whether it be through the means of social media, or any type of written, visual or verbal form", Gulf News quoted UAE Attorney-General Hamad Saif al-Shamsi as saying. Qatar Airlines was also blocked from entering Saudi, Emirati and Bahraini airspace as the diplomatic crisis deepened throughout June 5.
Newspapers and television channels in the region have also been engaged in a war of words over Qatar's role.
Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, says the USA continues to be grateful to the Qataris for their longstanding support of the American presence and enduring commitment to regional security.
The U.S. military began moving into Al Udeid not long after the September 11 terrorist attacks when Saudi Arabia asked the Americans to leave.
The broadcaster said USA intelligence officials believe the hackers planted a false story on Qatar's state news agency that may have prompted the Saudi Arabia-led sanctions on Qatar.
While he has even held out hopes that a communal effort could pave the way for Israeli-Arab rapprochement, the Qatar crisis serves as a reminder of the region's many fault lines that challenge US diplomacy.
The decision comes after a ransom of up to $1 billion was reportedly paid by Qatar to Iranian and Al Qaeda-linked forces in Syria to release kidnapped members of the country's royal family.
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Trump's top climate adviser Scott Pruitt was indignant: "The world applauded when we joined Paris". We signed it due to our commitment to protecting the environment.
"So good to see the Saudi Arabia visit with the King and 50 countries already paying off", he tweeted in reference to his trip to Riyadh last month.
The state-run Kuwait News Agency reported Kuwaiti ruler Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al Sabah spoke with Qatar's emir Monday evening and urged him to give a chance to efforts that could ease tensions.
Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said on Tuesday that Qatar needed to take several steps, including ending its support of Palestinian militant group Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, to restore ties with other key Arab states, which also cut transport links.
Despite the tough rhetoric, USA military officials said that planes continued to take off from Al Udeid in support of US military operations in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. But Gulf Arab neighbours and Egypt have always been irked by its maverick stances and support for the Muslim Brotherhood, which they regard as a political enemy. The countries also said they would eject Qatar's diplomats. The rift has affected global oil prices, hit travel plans and sown confusion among businesses.
"We are willing to sit and talk", he told CNN later, and said his country was "protecting the world from potential terrorists".
Energy-rich Qatar has long had strained ties with its neighbours but the move by Riyadh and its supporters raised fears of more volatility in the region.
Traders on global markets anxious that Riyadh's allies would refuse to accept LNG shipments from the Gulf state, and that Egypt might even bar tankers carrying Qatari cargoes from using the Suez Canal as they head to Europe and beyond.
He appeared to take a more measured tone during a call with Saudi Arabia's King Salman.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that isolating Qatar, including the use of sanctions, would not resolve any problems, adding that Ankara would continue to do everything in its power to help end the crisis. The Muslim Brotherhood has close ties with Turkey's ruling AK Party, which Erdogan co-founded.
At a separate briefing, State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert said the U.S. recognises that Qatar has made some great efforts to try to stop financing of terror groups, including prosecuting suspected financiers, freezing assets, and introducing stringent controls on its banking system there. "This has resulted in heavy losses to human life in these Arab countries, in Europe and throughout the world".
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