Qatari FM: Turkish soldiers coming for sake of region

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The false report further enflamed tensions between Qatar and other Gulf states (including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates).

On the other hand, Qatar's stock market tumbled more than seven percent on Monday as six of the Middle Eastern country's neighbors reportedly severed diplomatic relations with Doha for allegedly supporting terrorism.

The Ministry said hackers had installed a file and then published "fake news" attributed to Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani just after midnight on May 24.

Soccer's world governing body Federation Internationale de Football Association has said it remains in regular contact with Qatar, which will host the 2022 World Cup.

The Qatari Foreign Ministry said in a statement the two held talks on how "restore the normal relations" of the Gulf as the 2022 FIFA World Cup host and global air travel hub now finds itself isolated by land, sea and air.

Qatari officials declined to immediately comment on Gargash's comments.

The Qatari ambassador to Washington, Meshal Hamad al-Thani, wrote on Twitter that a key pillar of Doha's foreign policy was mediation.

Doha is a major global travel hub, but flag carrier Qatar Airways now flies increasingly over Iran and Turkey after being blocked elsewhere in the Middle East.

A top United Arab Emirates official on Wednesday told AFP that the unprecedented measures were aimed at pressuring Doha into making drastic policy changes. Al-Jazeera offices also have been shut down by authorities in Saudi Arabia and Jordan.

Turkey has brought forward a troop deployment to Qatar and pledged to provide food and water supplies to its Arab ally, which hosts a Turkish military base.

An outspoken Emirati ruling family member on Wednesday raised the prospect of Qatar's leadership changing amid a growing diplomatic crisis between it and other Arab nations attempting to isolate the energy-rich travel hub from the rest of the world.

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Throughout the interview, Sheikh Mohammed repeatedly denied that Qatar funded extremists and terrorist groups, the main reason given for this week's moves against it.

Gargash particularly pointed out the tens of millions of dollars paid to Shiite militias and others to free dozens of Qatari ruling family members and others in Iraq after 16 months in captivity.

The emirate is also home to leaders of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, the Palestinian Hamas and the Afghan Taliban. Gaza's Islamic Hamas rulers, a major recipient of Qatari aid, have called Saudi Arabia's call for Qatar to cut ties with the Palestinian militant group "regrettable" and said it contradicts traditional Arab support for the Palestinian cause.

But Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said Gulf states could resolve the dispute among themselves without outside help.

Al Thani became emir through a palace coup in 1995 and expanded his nation's presence on the global scene through negotiating hostage releases, briefly engaging in diplomatic ties to Israel, hosting a Taliban office and creating Al-Jazeera.

Kuwait's Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah was met planeside by Qatar's emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, when he arrived on Wednesday night.

The Gulf countries have ordered their citizens out of Qatar and gave Qataris overseas 14 days to return home.

Jordan announced it has chose to "lower its diplomatic representation with Qatar" and cancel the licenses of Al Jazeera's bureau in Jordan, according to a government statement. On Wednesday, CNN reported that unnamed United States officials had linked Russian hackers to planting it.

The ministry did not say who it suspected carried out the attack, though it thanked the FBI and the British National Commission for Combating Crime for assisting it in its investigation.

Qatar's government made a statement several hours after the news appeared, saying that the QNA site had been hacked.

"That hack showed the UAE's real concerns and that what we really say in our private emails is what we say publicly", Gargash said.

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