U.S. calls on Arab states to ease Qatar blockade as crisis deepens | Reuters

By Stephen Kalin and Tom Finn | DUBAI/DOHA DUBAI/DOHA The United States on Friday called on Arab states to ease their blockade on Qatar and demanded all sides move to calm tensions that intensified with a Turkish offer to send troops, warships and planes to aid its Qatari ally.Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt and Bahrain, which on Monday cut ties with Qatar and accused it of fomenting instability, tightened their squeeze by putting dozens of figures with links to the tiny, wealthy nation on terrorism blacklists.In something of a reversal of U.S. President Donald Trump's suggestion earlier this week that he sided with Saudi Arabia and other countries against Qatar, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson made clear on Friday that he expected all parties to end the crisis."We call on the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt to ease the blockade against Qatar," he said in Washington.Tillerson told reporters at the State Department that the crisis, which has cut transportation links and trade, had begun to hurt ordinary people in Qatar, impaired business dealings and harmed the U.S

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