Trump calls King Salman, urges diplomatic solution for Qatar crisis

US President Donald Trump has called for a diplomatic solution for the crisis between Qatar and its neighbouring countries, urging them to follow their commitment in fighting terrorism.Trump made the remarks during a telephonic conversation with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud on Wednesday, the White House said in a readout of the conversation between the two leaders.

"The president urged that all parties to the Qatar dispute find a diplomatic resolution that follows through on their commitments made at the Riyadh Summit, to maintain unity while fighting terrorism.The two leaders also addressed the threat that Iran poses to the region," it said.Trump and King Salman also discussed the need to defeat terrorism, cut off terrorists' funding and combat extremist ideology."The president and the King praised the resilience of the communities affected by Hurricane Harvey, and King Salman offered his condolences to the families who have lost their loved ones" in the catastrophic storm, the White House said.Meanwhile, experts have touted the Qatar crisis as the fallout of Trump's visit to Riyadh in early June. Even Trump himself pointed this out in a tweet during the conflict's early days.

 "During my recent trip to the Middle East I stated that there can no longer be funding of Radical Ideology," Trump wrote on June 6. "Leaders pointed to Qatar -- look!"

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said before the visit that it was aimed at getting Saudi Arabia and other Arab nations in the region to stand in "unity" with Israel and confront Iran.

This might explain the sudden push to isolate Doha, under the pretext that it has close ties with Iran as well as the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas.

Trump's siding with Saudis became more apparent on June 8, when the White House said he had talked to Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, asking him to help "prevent the financing of terrorist organizations and stop the promotion of extremist ideology."

Now, however, it seems that the White House is running out of patience with Saudi Arabia over its refusal to resolve the crisis.

Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said Wednesday that Riyadh and its regional allies had ignored "on at least 12 different occasions" calls by Qatar for talks on resolving the impasse.

The immense pressure seems to have failed to bring Qatar to its knees, as the country has strengthened ties with Iran and other regional players like Turkey.

Qatar is facing a boycott by a group of countries led by Saudi-Arabia and United Arab Emirates who had cut off political and trade links with Doha on June 5, initiating the Gulf's worst political crisis in years.The bloc accuses Qatar of supporting extremism, a charge the emirate denies.