Trump, Salman discuss Arab-Qatar crisis

CAIRO – 31 August 2017: King Salman of Saudi Arabia and American President Donald Trump discussed during a telephone call Wednesday the need to fight terrorism and resolve the Qatar-Gulf rift.

Salman expressed his condolences for the families who lost some of their members due to Hurricane Harvey, the White House said in a statement. Hurricane Harvey has been hitting parts of the U.S. for six days, where Texas has reported at least 38 deaths, according to New York Times.

Trump and Salman also talked about the need to combat extremism and stop funding terrorists. According to the statement, Trump also stressed upon the need to find a diplomatic solution to resolve the Qatar-Gulf rift, in order to work hand in hand to fight terrorism.

Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates broke off relations with Qatar in June, accusing the tiny emirate of supporting terrorism and destabilizing region. This is considered the worst diplomatic crisis to hit Gulf Arab states in decades.