Senegal recalls ambassador in Qatar, backs Saudi Arabia

US President Donald Trump, whose tweets on the crisis have caused controversy, spoke to Qatar's Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, by phone on Wednesday and offered a possible White House meeting to help resolve the crisis, officials said.

The incident triggered a diplomatic row between Qatar and its neighbours.

Qatar will respect the LNG gas agreements it has made with the United Arab Emirates despite its cutting off relations with Doha, he said. The Arab states accuse Qatar of supporting extremism, a charge Doha firmly denies.

Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi, of the UAE's ruling family, took things a step further Wednesday when he suggested a change in leadership in Qatar and the shutting down or censoring of Al-Jazeera.

Anxious residents have responded to the crisis by emptying grocery stores in the Qatari capital, Doha, as Saudi Arabia has blocked trucks carrying food from entering the country across its only land border.

The legislation, which also foresees cooperation in military training, was rapidly passed in parliament on Wednesday, a day after Erdogan openly sided with Qatar and criticized other Gulf countries' moves to isolate it.

Qatar said it led the region in attacking what it called the roots of terrorism, giving young people hope through jobs, educating hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees and funding community programmes to challenge extremist agendas. Qatar has forged regional alliances independently of its fellow GCC states, drawing accusations from Saudi Arabia and its allies of serving Iranian interests. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al Jubeir told reporters in Paris on Tuesday that Qatar must sever ties with Hamas and its historic parent, the pan-Arab Muslim Brotherhood.

Bahrain's Information Affairs Ministry said Thursday that those who do publish material sympathetic to Qatar "will be held responsible", without elaborating. "Perhaps this will be the beginning of the end to the horror of terrorism!"

- Kuwait's emir left Saudi Arabia after what state news agency KUNA described as a "brotherly visit" but there was no word on the outcome of the talks with King Salman bin Abdulaziz on the rift.

After Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and United Arab Emirates (UAE) closed their airspace, only one narrow route remains for Qatari carriers to transport passengers - via Iran.

Federal Bureau of Investigation experts visited Qatar in late May to analyze an alleged cyber breach that saw the hackers place the fake story with Qatar's state news agency, the U.S. broadcaster said.

Qatar has yet to receive any list of demands from the Arab countries that have cut ties, Sheikh Mohammed said.