Trump takes sides in Arab rift, suggests support for isolation of Qatar

[webfact]

Trump takes sides in Arab rift, suggests support for isolation of Qatar

By Roberta Rampton

REUTERS

 

U.S. President Donald Trump sits down to a meeting with of Gulf Cooperation Council leaders, including Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (R), during their summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia May 21, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump took sides in a deep rift in the Arab world on Tuesday, praising Middle East countries' actions against American ally Qatar over Islamist militants even though the tiny Gulf state hosts the largest U.S. air base in the region.

 

Trump wrote on Twitter that his recent trip to the Middle East was "already paying off" and cast an anti-Islamist speech he made in Saudi Arabia as the inspiration for a decision by Arab powers to sever ties with Qatar in protest at what they say is the Gulf nation's support for terrorism.

 

Qatar vehemently denies the accusations.

 

"So good to see the Saudi Arabia visit with the King and 50 countries already paying off. They said they would take a hard line on funding extremism, and all reference was pointing to Qatar. Perhaps this will be the beginning of the end to the horror of terrorism!" Trump wrote on Twitter.

 

U.S. officials were blindsided by Saudi Arabia's decision to sever diplomatic ties with Qatar in a coordinated move with Egypt, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), current and former officials in Washington told Reuters. The United States was not informed of the decision until just before it was announced, the State Department said.

 

Even as Trump applauded the Arab countries' move, the Pentagon on Tuesday renewed praise of Qatar for hosting U.S. forces and its "enduring commitment to regional security."

 

Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis declined to answer a question about whether Qatar supported terrorism, saying: "I’m not the right person to ask that. I consider them a host to our very important base at al Udeid."

 

Some 8,000 U.S. military personnel are stationed at al Udeid in Qatar, the largest U.S. air base in the Middle East and a staging ground for U.S.-led strikes on the Islamic State militant group that has seized parts of Syria and Iraq.

 

Trump's tweet appeared at odds with comments from U.S. officials who had said on Monday that the United States would quietly try to calm the waters between Saudi Arabia and Qatar because Qatar is too important to U.S. military and diplomatic interests to be isolated.

 

Qatar has for years parlayed its enormous gas wealth and media strength into broad influence in the region. But Gulf Arab neighbours and Egypt have long been irked by its maverick stances and support for the Muslim Brotherhood, which they regard as a political enemy.

 

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.

 

"We've decided to take steps to make clear that enough is enough," Adel Al-Jubeir told journalists in Paris. He said the "fairly large cost" on Qatar's economy would convince it to change its policies.

 

The campaign to isolate Qatar disrupted trade in commodities from crude oil to metals and food, and deepened fears of a possible shock to the global natural gas market, where it is a major player.

 

Qataris crowded into supermarkets to stock up on goods, fearing shortages.

 

Maersk <MAERSKb.CO>, the world's biggest container shipping line, said it was unable to transport goods in or out of Qatar because it could not take them through the UAE port of Jebel Ali.

 

Jordan joined the pressure on Qatar, downgrading its diplomatic representation and revoking the license of Doha-based TV channel Al Jazeera.

 

MEDIATION AND CONSEQUENCES

 

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said the United States is communicating with all the parties in the Middle East "to resolve issues and restore cooperation" over the Qatar dispute.

 

"The U.S. still wants to see this issue de-escalated and resolved immediately, in keeping with the principles that the president laid out in terms of defeating terror financing and extremism."

 

Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber al-Sabah flew to Saudi Arabia for talks with King Salman bin Abdulaziz, Saudi and Kuwaiti state media reported, but gave no details on the discussions.

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin told Qatar's emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani in a phone call that crisis situations should be solved by political and diplomatic means, "in dialogue", the Kremlin said.

 

The rift has affected global oil prices, hit travel plans and sown confusion among businesses.

 

Saudi Arabia's central bank advised banks in the kingdom not to trade with Qatari banks in Qatari riyals, banking sources said.

Oil prices <LCOc1> <CLc1> fell on concern that the rift would undermine efforts by OPEC to tighten output.

 

Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani told Qatar-based Al Jazeera TV that Qatar would not retaliate, hoping Kuwait would help resolve the dispute.

 

"We are willing to sit and talk," he told CNN later, and said his country was "protecting the world from potential terrorists".

 

A Qatari official said the rift was pushing Doha in the direction of leaving the six-state Gulf Cooperation Council, "with deep regret".

 

The split among the Sunni Muslim states erupted last month after the summit of Muslim leaders in Saudi Arabia, where Trump denounced Shi'ite Muslim Iran's "destabilising interventions" in Arab lands, where Tehran is locked in a tussle with Riyadh for influence.

 

Bans on Doha's fleet using regional ports and anchorages threatened to halt some of its exports and disrupt those of liquefied natural gas.

 

Traders on global markets worried 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.

 

Saudi Arabia's aviation authority revoked the license of Qatar Airways and ordered its offices to be closed within 48 hours. Qatar's stock market slid to its lowest close since January 2016 and the Qatari riyal <QAR=> came under pressure.

 

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said isolating Qatar, including the use of sanctions, would not resolve any problems. The Muslim Brotherhood has close ties with Turkey's ruling AK Party, which Erdogan co-founded.

 

(Reporting by Tom Finn in Doha, Ahmed Tolba in Cairo, Aziz El Yaakoubi, Tom Arnold, Hadeel Al Sayegh, Syliva Westall, William Maclean and Celine Aswad in Dubai, and Phillip Stewart, Yeganeh Torbati and Doina Chiacu in Washington and Suleiman Al-Khalidi in Amman; Writing by Alistair Bell; Editing by Andrew Roche and James Dalgleish)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-06-07

[harada]

Don't you just love that big cheesy smile. 

[darksidedog]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

U.S. officials were blindsided by Saudi Arabia's decision to sever diplomatic ties with Qatar in a coordinated move with Egypt, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), current and former officials in Washington told Reuters. The United States was not informed of the decision until just before it was announced, the State Department said.

But Donald deserves all the plaudits, even though he apparently didn't know anything about it?  I thought you weren't supposed to get involved with plots against your supposed allies.  Qatar is  probably reviewing the lease on the al Udeid Airbase right about now.

[stander]

Qatar, where Obama sent the Guantanamo terrorists he released

[nausea]

Well done Trump, give yourself a pat on the back; we are really worried about Hamas and the Moslem Brotherhood in the UK, and all those pesky Iranian terrorists not killing people in London and Manchester.

[Credo]

It seems Trump fell for a fake news story from Russia that was planted on the issue:

 

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/06/06/politics/russian-hackers-planted-fake-news-qatar-crisis/index.html

[pegman]

1 hour ago, darksidedog said:

But Donald deserves all the plaudits, even though he apparently didn't know anything about it?  I thought you weren't supposed to get involved with plots against your supposed allies.  Qatar is  probably reviewing the lease on the al Udeid Airbase right about now.

Seems his not knowing was a smoke screen. Turns out his partners, the Russians, set this up. If he is taking credit he obviously requested Putin do  the fake news hack .

 

http://www.smh.com.au/world/russian-hackers-used-false-stories-to-trigger-qatar-crisis-says-fbi-report-20170606-gwm1b9.html

[Andaman Al]

Trump and Putin are very dangerous to the future safety of world peace. So on one hand we have got Trump claiming credit for the isolation of Qatar, even tweeting as much, and then we have other news saying that US investigators (stationed in Qatar) were called in to help the Qatari's find out who hacked their news agency. The Americans said it appears the Russians have hacked the Qatari news agency and planted the fake news document that stated the Emir of Qatar had spoken warmly of the Iranians. .............and who would have thought Trump and Putin might be colluding !!! We live in dangerous times and things are not as they seem.

 

Quote

Trump's attitude to Qatar crisis has profound implications

The US President is leaving himself exposed to accusations he has been played for a sucker by the Saudis, writes Dominic Waghorn.

http://news.sky.com/story/trumps-attitude-to-qatar-crisis-has-profound-implications-10906548

 

Quote

Qatar row: Trump claims credit for isolation

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-40175935

 

Quote

CNN Exclusive: US suspects Russian hackers planted fake news behind Qatar crisis

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/06/06/politics/russian-hackers-planted-fake-news-qatar-crisis/index.html

 

So it seems that Trump may have been taken for a sucker by Saudi. What better way for Russia to increase revenue at last. Long suffering due to low oil prices, destabilising the Middle East with the aid of the witless and clueless Trump could see a conflict kicking off that would have oil back up at 100 USD per barrel in no time. Exactly where Russia and Saudi need it.

[tonray]

This guy is an even bigger idiot than I previously thought. Every day I hope that 'maybe this is just a clever act and he actually has some grand plan, even if his goals are different than mine".

 

But NO...he really is an idiot.

[Andaman Al]

53 minutes ago, Credo said:

It seems Trump fell for a fake news story from Russia that was planted on the issue:

 

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/06/06/politics/russian-hackers-planted-fake-news-qatar-crisis/index.html

Or Trump is complicit in the whole thing. Destabilising the Middle East and increasing oil prices back to the 100 USD mark is desperately desired by both Saudi and Russia, as for both of them oil is their main revenue generator.

[Andaman Al]

I have worked in Qatar a lot, a life long friend of mine is now a one star in the Qatar Air Force. I am perplexed by all this. As far as I have seen Qatar have been as close an ally to the USA as anybody could want. Yes they never closed channels with Iran or Hezbollah or Hamas because they always were able to act as the Middle man in cases of negotiation. They supplied money and equipment to the rebel groups in Syria just as Saudi did. I believe the main reason for all this is because whilst being an ally of the USA, Qatar have never kowtowed to Saudi as all the other regional Arab Nations do. Qatar have always taken a strong independent stance against the extremism touted by Saudi and I would not be surprised if Saudi were a little jealous or concerned about the seemingly close relationship between Qatar and the USA ( Qatar has a base for US troops with 11000 personnel on it). 

 

I side with Qatar on this, the Saudi's cannot be trusted a millimetre, THEY are the source, promoters and enablers of wahhabism world wide and all terrorists so far are wahhabi/Sunni muslims. Saudi is paying for mosques to be built throughout the world in particular Africa and Indonesia (where we have predominantly large populations with poor literacy) that teach extreme adherence to the less savoury parts of the Quran. If you all don't smell a huge pile of rotten fish here, you all should.

Edited June 7, 2017 by Andaman Al

[klauskunkel]

I don't want to be governed by a numpty.

[kamahele]

Our president is not fit for office. Does he even realize that our largest military / intelligence base in the middle east is based in Qatar and that we use them to communicate with our enemies? Does he realize or care that Saudi Arabia is using what is reported to be emails faked by Russia to declare themselves the rulers of all of the middle east in a power play they bet Trump would allow? What a (fill in blank) this guy is. 

[tonray]

5 minutes ago, kamahele said:

Our president is not fit for office. Does he even realize that our largest military / intelligence base in the middle east is based in Qatar and that we use them to communicate with our enemies? Does he realize or care that Saudi Arabia is using what is reported to be emails faked by Russia to declare themselves the rulers of all of the middle east in a power play they bet Trump would allow? What a (fill in blank) this guy is. 

He is giving the Pentagon and State Department fits because they are out there saying the exact opposite as he tweets...he is a true imbecile

[dutchisaan]

The Donald at his best. The way he is going the USA will not have a ally left in the world. I hope that this clown is happy with his Saudi medal because the price that has to be paid for it is enormous.

[mrfill]

Remind me, what nationality were the 9/11 hijackers?

 

Was it Qatari?

[Jonmarleesco]

While Saudi Arabia freely carries on doing much the same.

[Andaman Al]

4 minutes ago, dutchisaan said:

The Donald at his best. The way he is going the USA will not have a ally left in the world. I hope that this clown is happy with his Saudi medal because the price that has to be paid for it is enormous.

Bannon and Putin are having wet dreams over the outcomes they are achieving.

 

I was having coffee with an American friend yesterday and inevitably the conversation got on to Trump. he is a Trump supporter/hard Republican, he is intelligent, a top executive and when I asked him how he would feel if it turns out Trump is/was colluding with the Russians (would it play on his old school values etc) he actually said to me it wouldn't bother him if Trump was colluding with the Russians! That is what we are facing. I nearly dropped my teaspoon. I smiled, changed the subject, kept the conversation very polite and civil and left thinking it may be a while before we have coffee again. Sad  Mad.

[Thaidream]

Good Lord- just when I think it can't get any worse it does.  Trump's reaction to this is beyond belief. Qatar has been an essential piece against the war against ISIS as a host to the American Military forces in the area.  Trump should have said nothing on the issue. Is there any sanity within the White House?  Donald Trump needs to be removed from the Presidency by either impeachment or the 25th Amendment. As an American, I can't think of a worse President in American history.

[dexterm]

It's interesting that the groups Egypt and Saudi Arabia want Qatar to sever ties with..Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, all won free and fair elections, something those countries havent tried themselves recently. Same possibly could be said about Trump's...still under scrutiny.

 

The fact that Qatar's Al Jazeera is the only honest news outlet on the Gulf , and that Qatar has had a recent moderatng influence on Hamas probably irks them too

 

Strange too that on his visit to the Middle East Trump only had criticism for Iran, which had reasonably fair democratic elections that same week.

 

I wonder which country in the Middle East might benefit most from all this interference?

More sinister forces at work here.

[stander]

They're everywhere... 
"It's official: there is nothing in this world that Russian hackers can't do." 

[Andaman Al]

Saudi have given Qatar Airlines 48 hours to move its people/equipment - everything out of Saudi. I wonder what will happen if Qatar give the US Military 48 hrs to get out of the base at Al Udeid. Trump is a complete clown. I imagine Pentagon Chiefs are working overtime right now to protect US interests.

 

1 minute ago, dexterm said:

I wonder which country in the Middle East might benefit most from all this interference?

More sinister forces at work here.

You hit that nail square on the head.

[Andaman Al]

Just now, stander said:

They're everywhere... 
"It's official: there is nothing in this world that Russian hackers can't do." 

So stop supporting them!

[coulson]

It seems Trump fell for a fake news story from Russia that was planted on the issue:
 
http://edition.cnn.com/2017/06/06/politics/russian-hackers-planted-fake-news-qatar-crisis/index.html

This had been reported locally from the outset of this debacle. Only now CNN jumps on it and its a surprise!

***The decision to cut off ties to Qatar comes weeks after QNA was hacked. At the time, insulting remarks attributed to the Emir about the country’s Gulf neighbors were published.

Officials debunked these as false, but many GCC countries doubt this to be true.***

https://dohanews.co/saudi-uae-egypt-and-bahrain-cut-diplomatic-ties-with-qatar

Whats more worrying is this singling out is that such a sudden act after the GCC council had recently met and nothing was tabled relating to the claims.

Trumps recent visit he even referred to the Qatari Emir as a good friend and a strong ally, cheesily stating they had agreed to trade *lots of high quality military equipmet made in the USA* Now he back peddles on twitter no less ,and claims to be behind it all. His own military must be holding the heads in their hands.

[maewang99]

it really is all about "disruption" for the sake of disruption.

Steve Bannon. 

anything bad that happens.. is "good"....

N.B. and the US dollah is definitely on that list.

 

Edited June 7, 2017 by maewang99

[Usernames]

2 hours ago, pegman said:

Seems his not knowing was a smoke screen. Turns out his partners, the Russians, set this up. If he is taking credit he obviously requested Putin do  the fake news hack .

 

http://www.smh.com.au/world/russian-hackers-used-false-stories-to-trigger-qatar-crisis-says-fbi-report-20170606-gwm1b9.html

Yea, looks like those Russian hackers can do everything.  Maybe they can cure climate change while they're at it in their newly redecorated THRUSH headquarters.

[DeaconJohn]

36 minutes ago, dexterm said:

It's interesting that the groups Egypt and Saudi Arabia want Qatar to sever ties with..Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, all won free and fair elections, something those countries havent tried themselves recently. Same possibly could be said about Trump's...still under scrutiny.

 

The fact that Qatar's Al Jazeera is the only honest news outlet on the Gulf , and that Qatar has had a recent moderatng influence on Hamas probably irks them too

 

Strange too that on his visit to the Middle East Trump only had criticism for Iran, which had reasonably fair democratic elections that same week.

 

I wonder which country in the Middle East might benefit most from all this interference?

More sinister forces at work here.

That's a very good summing-up.

One of the primary targets is the Doha-based Al-Jazeera network.

More sinister forces at work here for sure.

 

[KarenBravo]

I'm just surprised that anyone is surprised by Trump's behaviour.

He just loves taking undeserved credit for perceived "wins" and blaming anyone else for the consequences of his own stupidity.

[NanLaew]

4 hours ago, Andaman Al said:

So it seems that Trump may have been taken for a sucker by Saudi.

You mean taken for a sucker by his good friend Putin.

 

The man who invented 'fake-news' hoist by his own petard. Trump has been so played on this one, I can hardly wait to see what spin he puts on this.

 

The US president wrote on Twitter that his recent trip to the Middle East was "already paying off" and that "perhaps this will be the beginning of the end to the horror of terrorism!". Then... "Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, the Qatari foreign minister, told CNN: "Whatever has been thrown as an accusation is all based on misinformation and we think that the entire crisis [is] based on misinformation. &nbsp; "Because it was started based on fabricated news, being wedged and being inserted in our national news agency which was hacked and proved by the FBI."

 

Never mind. When the washout citizen Trump, the p!ss artist formerly know as POTUS emerges, he will be hosting a remake of the series, "You've been Punk'd!"

[tonbridgebrit]

The important thing is this. Washington must not bomb Qatar. Let the Saudis do it. This is an Arab problem, let the Arab's sort it out themselves. A Middle-East solution to a Middle-East problem, that's what we need.