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How Saudi Arabia and allies strong-armed Qatar, blindsided U.S.
One of the first signs of the crisis in which four Arab states have cut ties with Qatar came in a phone call from an anxious government adviser to a Reuters journalist early on May 24. In the 6.00 a.m. call, he denied Qatar's emir made comments reported by the state-run news agency criticising hostility to Iran, sympathising with three Islamist groups, accusing Saudi Arabia of adopting an extremist ideology that fosters terrorism and suggesting Donald Trump may not last long as U.S. president. The adviser repeated a statement released hours earlier which said the news agency had been hacked, seeming unaware that ... (full story)