Backing Saudi Arabia and other Mideast nations’ decision to cut diplomatic ties with Qatar, United States President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that the rift will be "the beginning of the end to the horror of terrorism." He did not say how the Arab blockade might do that.
Trump said on Twitter that it was good to see that his visit to Saudi Arabia was "already paying off." Trump met with leaders from Arab and Muslim nations there and he says Tuesday that "they said they would take a hard line on funding extremism." He says that "all reference was pointing to Qatar."
He tweeted: "Perhaps this will be the beginning of the end to the horror of terrorism!"
Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and other countries in the region have accused Qatar of funding terror groups and cozying up to Iran. Qatar denies that accusation.
Trump said that the leaders he met on a Middle East trip had warned him that Qatar was funding “radical ideology” after he had demanded that they action to stop financing militant groups.
The comments on Twitter - Trump's first about the rift between Qatar and major Arab nations over alleged support of Iran and Islamist groups - came as the leader of Kuwait was to meet in Saudi Arabia to try to mediate the dispute.
"During my recent trip to the Middle East I stated that there can no longer be funding of Radical Ideology. Leaders pointed to Qatar - look!" Trump tweeted.
Qatar, on the other hand, has vehemently denied the accusations against it, calling them baseless. Ordinary Qataris, however, were to be found crowding into supermarkets to stock up on goods against the crisis.
