DUBAI: Saudi Arabia and its allies Saturday welcomed an accusation by President Donald Trump that Qatar was bankrolling extremism but ignored a separate US call for them to ease their economic blockade.
Trump’s comments came as Washington joins intensifying international efforts to heal the worsening rift between the key Western Gulf allies, which has escalated into the region’s worst diplomatic crisis in years.
Qatar denies the allegations and has sent its top diplomat on a tour of European capitals in a bid to drum up support.
But its neighbors seized on Trump’s remarks as a vindication of their position and of the crippling sanctions they imposed on Monday.
The UAE welcomed “President Trump’s leadership in challenging Qatar’s troubling support for extremism.”
Yousef Al-Otaiba, UAE ambassador to the US, told the official WAM news agency: “The next step is for Qatar to acknowledge these concerns and commit to reexamine its regional policies. This will provide the necessary basis for any discussions.”
Saudi Arabia said an immediate change of policy by Qatar was essential.
“Fighting terrorism and extremism is no longer a choice, rather... a commitment requiring decisive and swift action to cut off all funding sources for terrorism regardless of its financier,” the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) cited an official source as saying.
Bahrain “stressed the necessity of Qatar’s commitment to correct its policies and to engage in a transparent manner in counter-terrorism efforts,” its official BNA news agency said.
Khalid bin Ali Al Khalifa, Bahrain’s justice minister, has threatened legal action against any political organization found communicating or expressing support for the people named in a new Qatar-linked blacklist.
The ministry would hold accountable “all those who employ religion to support organized ties or allegiances to a state” that targets the stability of other states, the minister said in a statement carried by state news agency BNA.
The three governments made no comment on separate remarks by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson urging them to ease their land and sea blockade of Qatar, which he said was hindering the US-led campaign against Daesh and having humanitarian consequences for ordinary people.
Qatar’s neighbors have given its citizens 14 days to leave, banned Qatari flights from their airspace and closed its only land border.
Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani was in Moscow on Saturday after talks in Germany on Friday.
Qatar ally Turkey meanwhile hosted the Bahraini foreign minister for talks on the crisis.
Saudi Arabia and allies hail Trump warning to Qatar
Saudi Arabia and allies hail Trump warning to Qatar
Controversial Israeli minister enters area around Al-Aqsa Mosque on first Friday of Ramadan
- Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir is seen making provocative remarks directed at Palestinians in presence of Israeli police
- It comes amid heightened Israeli security and restrictions on Palestinians entering the mosque, despite which an estimated 80,000 people attend first Friday prayers of the holy month
JERUSALEM: Israel’s far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, entered the area around Al-Aqsa Mosque on Friday, coinciding with the first Friday prayers of Ramadan.
Footage shared on social media showed him arriving through the Moroccan Gate, accompanied by the Israeli police commissioner, Daniel Levy, and the Jerusalem District police commander, Avshalom Peled.
Ben-Gvir was seen making provocative remarks directed at Palestinians in the presence of Israeli police officers, the Palestinian Wafa news agency reported.
The Moroccan Gate, located near Al-Buraq Wall, is one of the main entrances to Al-Aqsa and has been under Israeli control since 1967. It is regularly used by Israeli forces and settlers to access the mosque compound.
Jerusalem Governorate said the minister’s actions came amid heightened Israeli security measures and tighter restrictions on Palestinian in occupied Jerusalem during Ramadan.
Despite this, an estimated 80,000 worshippers attended the first Friday prayers of Ramadan at Al-Aqsa Mosque, according to figures provided by the Islamic Waqf Department in Jerusalem.
From early in the morning, Israeli forces imposed strict controls on Palestinians traveling from the West Bank to Jerusalem. Dozens of elderly worshippers were reportedly turned back at the Qalandia and Bethlehem checkpoints after being told they lacked the necessary permits.
Security forces also briefly detained four paramedics and disrupted the work of journalists and medical teams at Qalandia, witnesses said.
Additional security measures were also enforced at entrances to Jerusalem’s Old City and the gates of Al-Aqsa, with young men subjected to identity checks and a number of worshippers denied access.
