Secretary of State Rex Tillerson speaks in the Treaty Room of the U.S. Department of State on Friday, urging Saudi Arabia and its regional allies to ease their blockade of Qatar.
His comments came at the end of a week that saw Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt sever ties with the Gulf state over concerns that it was fuelling terrorism and supporting Shia proxies of Iran.
But Trump said the isolation of Qatar is not a long-term USA goal, expressing hope that the nation will "do more and do it faster" in cutting its financial ties supporting terror groups.
President Donald Trump on Friday accused Qatar of being a "funder of terrorism at a very high level", issuing a warning that the country must "do more" to combat terror.
He bemoaned the "humanitarian consequences" of the Gulf states' blockade of Qatar, including food shortages and families being forcibly separated.
The U.S.is carrying out military action in the region in its campaign against ISIS from the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
As the AP puts it, "The sanctions list further tightens the screws on Qatar" and "shows the crisis only escalating despite Kuwaiti efforts to mediate an end to the rift". Saudi Arabia also closed Qatar's only land border.
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During the call, the White House said that Trump "emphasized the importance of all counties in the region working together to prevent the financing of terrorist organizations and stop the promotion of extremist ideology".
Qatar has yet to receive any list of demands from the Arab countries that have cut ties, Sheikh Mohammed said. In a rare public statement, Tillerson appealed to the Middle Eastern and North African governments behind the blockade of Qatar.
The president has followed the lead of Saudi Arabia and the UAE, publically backing them in their media war with Qatar. Shortly after Tillerson's remarks, the Pentagon said that while the Qatar blockade was not affecting current operations against Islamic State, it was "hindering" the ability to plan for long-term operations. The U.S. will support these mediation efforts along with the emir of Kuwait.
USA and European officials said that while United States government agencies and experts were convinced that the news agency and the Qatari government's Twitter feed were hacked, they have not yet determined who did the hacking.
June 8: Apparently having been told that Qatar is an ally which hosts both CENTCOM and a huge U.S. military base, Trump offers up Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to mediate the dispute.
Saudi Arabia and its allies are demanding an immediate change of policy by Qatar was essential.
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