RIYADH — Saudi Arabia, UAE and Bahrain welcomed on Saturday US President Donald Trump's demand for Qatar to stop supporting terrorism. "Fighting terrorism and extremism is no longer a choice; it's a commitment requiring a decisive and swift action to cut off all funding sources for terrorism regardless of its financier, in line with the outcomes of the Arab-Islamic-US summit," an official Saudi source said, welcoming "the statements made by US President Donald Trump in which he called on Qatar to stop funding terrorism." In a separate statement issued on Friday, the United Arab Emirates also praised Trump's "leadership in challenging Qatar's troubling support for extremism". Bahrain also praised Trump's statement, saying that his "stance is part of the relentless US efforts to combat all forms of terrorism and ensure international solidarity on this dangerous phenomenon." "The Kingdom of Bahrain stressed the necessity of Qatar's commitment to correct its policies and to engage in a transparent manner in counter-terrorism efforts, allowing the countries of the region to confront all terrorist entities and eliminate all those who support them." Trump on Friday said that Qatar was funding terrorism "at a very high level," and said solving the problem in the tiny Gulf nation could be "the beginning of the end of terrorism." "No more funding," Trump said. Trump derided what he called Qatar's "extremist ideology in terms of funding" terrorist groups. Western diplomats are also saying that Qatar's government is allowing or even encouraging the funding of extremists, such as Al-Qaeda's branch in Syria. "The time had come to call on Qatar to end its funding," Trump said. "They have to end that funding." Addressing a White House news conference, the president said Qatar had "historically been a funder of terrorism at a very high level." A separate report in Saudi Press Agency on Saturday acknowledged US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's call for Qatar to curtail support for terrorism.
