it wasn't just qatar. it is clear we have similar requests from allies and semi allies throughout the gulf. yes. >> thank you. one quick point. i know we're over time. one thing the committee could do is, for example, to ask for a report on what it would mean to actually diversify away from the qatar air base, not because i necessarily recommend doing that. i think it would be extremely difficult and expensive to do that, and if we can we should keep that asset. but i don't think we should just keep doing it because we're doing it right now and it keeps a gun to our head. unless you push the pentagon or at loweeast the state departmeno creatively think about it, the answer from any administration will be we have zero leverage, we need the base, which is not the case. that would be an area that i think would be interesting. >> thank you, madam chair. >> thank you, mr. issa. now we return to the gentleman from rhode island. >> thank you to our witnesses for your testimony. dr. levitt, i want to start with yo

in qatar errors terror financing by the government, terror financing done in qatar through their own businesses that the government may not know about and terror financing in qatar that the government knows about but there's nothing to stop it. according to the 2015 report on terrorism this state department quoted quote indices and individuals within qatar continued to serve as a source of financial support for terrorist and violent extremist groups particularly regional al-qaeda affiliates such the nusra friend end quote. there is no excuse for openly harboring terrorists and supporting groups that seek to harm our allies and excuse by qatar that is harboring these nefarious actors because the u.s. asked them to no longer stands up. qatar should not be continuing this wreck was policy due to past mistakes from previous republican and democratic administrations. we must not allow for our airbase airbase to be used as a means to justify this sort of behavior and our lack of a more appropriate response. doha's paper mites and must change the status quo and if it is not a risk losing ou

>> thank you for your kind comments about qatar, the people of qatar. . think you are already helping we appreciate all the support that the u.s. administration is doing, also the u.s. people. we have a lot of support and we see people are speaking up about how this aggression is not justified but we really appreciate that. thank you very much. >> hello, my name is ahmed. i'm a student at new york university, and ejection as well. my question -- and i need an honest answer. >> have i not been honest all night? [laughter] >> what is your response of qatar hosting people from egypt that has been detained by authorities who are for example prominent members of the muslim brotherhood and they are now hosted in qatar. what do you think of the threat that al jazeera uses against wast now, the support that seized after 2013. supportsy qatar ejection people, but that support has stopped since 2013. what are your remarks on this issue? thank you. >> that is five or six questions. ahmed?me is you, we see egypt as a very important country in the arab world. we see e

recently, qatar's defense minister said once the blockade is lifted, qatar officials will engage in dialogue. yesterday the country's ambassador to the u.s. talked about the effects to the blockade and the relationship with the neighbors and the united states. the discussion is about an hour. >> salah m >>. [ speaking foreign language ] good evening, ladies and gentlemen. that deserves a round of applause. [ applause ] >> i am tony calfoster, president and ceo of the foreign affairs council. i welcome you to tonight's ambassador series. we are delighted we have six, seven, eight of our board members here tonight and we thank them for their surs. without you, these programs would not be takes place, so thank you, all of you, very much. many thanks to our strategic partners at the ronald reagan building in the international trade center for their hospitality and for providing us with this ven tou hold our public programs. if the early bird gets the first worm, then those who got here early tonight got the first 120 seats. we have another 80 people downstairs in a spillover room who are watchin

-qatar relationship and qatar's relationship with its neighbors. i think it is important to note that this rift in the gulf is not new. catherine bower, a former senior level official at the treasury department stated earlier this month at a think tank event, quote, saudi arabia and the uae have sought for years to gal van nice qatar's efforts. qatar has been known to be a permissive environment for terror financing. reportedly funding u.s. designated foreign terrorist organizations, as well as several extremist groups operating in syria. in 2014 the former deputy director of the cia called out qatar publically along with kuwait because according to him the private engagement with these countries had not achieved what we were trying to achieve, end quote. in fact, qatar has openly housed ha mass leaders, taliban leaders and several individuals sanctioned by our u.s. state treasury department and it has failed to prosecute them. at least one high ranking qatar official provided support to the mastermind of the 9/11 terror attacks against our country

in qatar errors terror financing by the government, terror financing done in qatar through their own businesses that the government may not know about and terror financing in qatar that the government knows about but there's nothing to stop it. according to the 2015 report on terrorism this state department quoted quote indices and individuals within qatar continued to serve as a source of financial support for terrorist and violent extremist groups particularly regional al-qaeda affiliates such the nusra friend end quote. there is no excuse for openly harboring terrorists and supporting groups that seek to harm our allies and excuse by qatar that is harboring these nefarious actors because the u.s. asked them to no longer stands up. qatar should not be continuing this wreck was policy due to past mistakes from previous republican and democratic administrations. we must not allow for our airbase airbase to be used as a means to justify this sort of behavior and our lack of a more appropriate response. doha's paper mites and must change the status quo and if it is not a risk losing ou

to qatar. these include aircraft, machinery, vehicles, medical instruments and agricultural products. qatar is an active member of the um world bank and gulf corporation call council. it has also been selected to host the 2022 feet for world cup, another round of applause. >> wonderful his excellency is a career diplomat with more than 20 years of experience. he presented his credentials to president trump on april 204th 2070. ambassador has previously served for three years as the ambassador to france. he has also served as qatar's permanent representative to the un and he's chaired the qatari mission to the eu in brussels and served as qatari official liaison to nato. his graduate of an american university, received his masters degree in international relations in 2004. tonight, i'm pleased to introduce another friend to our world affairs council family. managing editor of the usa today is our discussion for this evening. he's previously served as both an editor and reporter for breaking news

>> if we are talking about qatar, unfortunately qatar is just a basket case. you either invest in qatar or you don't. i wouldn't be looking in qatar to hedge myself. if you look at saudi, what is the main catalyst? it is the potential msdi inclusion on the watch list. it is the short trade as i mentioned before. it is not really a long-term trade yet. you would be looking at sectors at would be heavily weight inside petro chemicals and banks. >> what is the impact on the oil price there as the blockade continues? >> well, we have seen so far that when the blockade started, we didn't really see a clear impact on oil prices, or prices didn't really go up. oil prices are going back on the numbers from the u.s. if anything, i still don't see oil's price negligence a worse scenario from the blockade, but that may come as well. if anything, i am more positive shortstop term on the oil price than i was a few months ago. in terms of the united arab emirates, there is a lot of qatari consumer spending power that flows into the u.a.e., especially a lot of qatari investo

did you mean about qatar? >> about this qatar conflict, but i think in general when we look at the permissive nature of what we've allowed to take place across this region, in my view, it has been the direct result of yielding to these actors. in other words, over time this has become the boiling frog, although i heard the other day that's not scientific. that frogs can be boiled. they won't jump out, but regardless, what i would say is that over time we have come to just accept the fact that there is -- there are terror finance people running around in qatar and kuwait, and we're being asked to look the other way. over time we've grown used to it because they've engaged with us on deals to buy weapons, on investments here in the united states, and because they have a face here in washington. and what i would like to do is to try to look beyond the messaging and get back to the facts here which is that we have problematic relations. >> right. but could it not also be because we also have bases? we have troops

funds to be raised from qatar or to be channelled through qatar. and will take whatever measure it takes in order to get rid of them. and therefore, this is qatar moving from a strategic dimension in countering terrorism, and others who are willing to contribute more. we are investing in education in those four other countries. we are investing in economic empowerment and job creation for young people, and one of the examples is tunisia, where you have their population, most of them from their population, most of them from the years. they have a high unemployment rate. they are representing the biggest portion of the fallen terrorist fighters, so these contributions are protecting these contributions are protecting the world from potential terrorism, andl the world from potential terrorism, and i am not willing to double invest. we see that this accusation is baseless and does not make sense for anyone that qatar, and open—minded country, is a country which wants to promote terrorism. they are just basing it on political desire. with me is our ch

in economic surplus enabled qatar to rebrand qatar airways and support the education city. it recognize state-of-the-art academic oasis. it hosts schools from the united states, britain, france and qatar. this includes our friends at georgetown university, texas a&m, carnegie mellon, cornell, virginia commonwealth, northwestern university, and ucl london. in terms of transparency, which we are very big on at the council, we should inform you that we have had a long and valued relationship with the state of qatar during the 38 years since our founding. the qatar foundation, both the recipient of our 2014 global education award that was accepted on behalf of the foundation. the ambassadors of qatar have participated in our embassy series and ambassador programs, and support it our annual global education gala. qatar's population is, question, anybody know? you just googled it, out of bounds. it is 2 million people. at of that number, 11% are native qataris. 88.4% are non-qataris. bilateral relations between the united states and qatar are strong. they host the u.s. military c

>> as for qatar. qatar will continue to be an active member of the gcc. believe the gcc is a very important entity in this region. qatar's restraint in not responding in kind. i can respond for the world board affairs council, we do not take sides in these conflicts traditionally but we will always stand on the side of the empowerment of women, greater anddom of expression mediation over conflict. we appreciate that you have prioritized these issues. one of the things that have been raised by people attacking qatar is the allegation that the money that you are putting into the -- you are funding hamas because of the money you're putting into gaza reconstruction. i know that hamas is the only elected government in the strip, but is there not cooperation with the israeli government, doesn't that money have to go through and be coordinated in to theaeli government invested in the reconstruction i think there's some misunderstanding of the role that qatar has played. >> just going back to the ads that are running against qatar, someone told me no publicity is

what could qatar do? what the saudi's have done is , that is the major supply route for qatar's food supply. they have supplement the met with air deliveries from iran and turkey. since easily -- under what cause of action, every country can allow or disallow trade to other countries. there is not much teeth in that for qatar right now. so long as turkey and iran can supply them with food, they should be able to withstand all of that. the cost of that will be going up as time goes by. it is much cheaper for them. >> you had a list of demands that basically have been ignored completely by qatar. then you have the latest movements from the qatari military in terms of the defense minister going to turkey and speaking with the turkish counterpart -- this hardly helps the ongoing standoff. >> it is a bit odd. turkey has relationships with all of the gulf countries. quite good relationships. the way it is looking now, there is a wedge between turkey and qatar and saudi and the uae. i'm sure that was not the int

-qatar relationship, and qatar's relationship with its neighbors. it is important to note that this rift in the gulf is not new. bauer, a former senior-level official at the treasury department, stated earlier this month at a think quote saudi arabia and the uae have fought for years to galvanize qatar's actions against terrorist financiers that were operating a month and continue to operate, in qatar. qatar has been known to be a permissive environment for , reportedlycing funding u.s.-designated foreign terrorist organizations such as hamas, as well as several extremist groups. in 2014, the former deputy director of the cia, david telling, called out to talk publicly, along with the kuwaitis, because according to him,, "the private engagement with these countries has not achieved what we were trying to achieve." in fact, qatar has openly housed hamas leaders, taliban leaders, and that several individuals who been sanctioned by our u.s. state treasury department, and it has failed to prosecute them. at least one high-ranking qatari official provide

with qatar. i would argue the way to be flexible is not to say it's perfectly okay to have x number of north koreans working in the country in a way we don't know. certainly for example i would make a difference between hosting certain leaders of hamas who are sitting in a hotel room as opposed to people like sul haruri who is believed to be in lebanon, but was sitting comfortably in qatar for quite sometime where he was plotting attacks against israeli civilians. that should be completely beyond the pale. i haven't seen this report, this would be another thing we have to figure out how do you have multiple conversations with a country at the same time, you have agreement on some issues, great disagreement on other issues. we have done that very poorly across administrations. >> any other comments on this? >> i'll comment for a moment, sir. think it's important when you talk about foreign workers in qatar. the 3,000 that you mentioned are actually a very small number relatively speaking. in relat

>> as for qatar. in that region and plays an important role, so i don't see any outcome to the gcc. >> please join us tonight for an articulate and candid discussion of the issue that's in a lot of people's minds but given the 18 million of attack ads but we are aware of and admire the restraint and not responding in kind. we don't take sides of the conflict is traditionally. we always stand on the side of the empowerment of women with greater freedom of expression. the fact that you have prioritized those issues, one of the things that have been raised by people attacking qatar is the allegation that the money that you are putting into the reconstruction i know that hamas is the only elected government in the strip, but is there not cooperation with the israeli government, doesn't have money to go through and be coordinated in the government to the invested in the reconstruction i think there's some misunderstanding of the role that they've played. >> just going back to the ads that are running again

if the uae hacked qatar to suggest... so, the uae did not ask, orchestrate or plan or ask someone else to hack qatar? not at all. categorically no? no. do you accept someone categorically did? i had heard that the russians had been involved. and i actually don't think that there was any hacking. so, you think that the emir of qatar did say those things. you don't accept their denials? no, i don't accept their denials, we don't accept their denials, but we all know that they have established links with hezbollah, with hamas, and with the iranians, their foreign minister met with the head of the al-quds brigade, you know, this is a guy who is famous for slaughtering sunnis in iraq and syria. what denial is there? you are, of course, ambassador in russia. have you asked the russians about this? no, i haven't. why not? it simply didn't come up. are you not curious to establish what information there is? on what precisely? on what exactly was said, and whether there was any hacking. the russians, if there was hacking, then, yo

so qatar itself hasn't -- the prosecutions that various u.s. officials have said have been pursued using squishy language that leaves it not quite so clear, even though there has been clarity in recent weeks. the qatari's aren't publicizing those in any way. that's been one of the problems sths not clear if this is a reflection of an inn complete commitment to doing it i think or if there is, you know, just concerns given small associates, that's what i've heard before about publicizing this or security concerns because there is information that's used that's sensitive, things like that. but there has not been a lot of public information and what we've learned in the last couple of weeks is that there are five individuals that have been prosecuted, one of them was prosecuted not in qatar but in bahrain, that was -- and then there were four other individuals. none of them -- two were convicted -- or one was convicted -- essentially there were a couple of convictions, a couple acquit tals but ultimately none of them are imprisoned. the concern th

we don't want to hurt qatar, we are doing this to help qatar because it will help qatar, us, the region and the world. let me show you a tweet from the bbc‘s security correspondent frank gardner. hejust he just interviewed the qatar foreign minister. he isn't optimistic about a solution. this is the only way to ensure fresh supplies to the country. when you are not allowing our aeroplanes to fly over their sky. when you are violating the human rights declarations, the freedom of choosing family, the freedom of movement of the people, when they are separating families, they are violating these clauses and international law. a month ago, these countries said they'd finally lost patience with qatar and broke off all land, sea and air links. they issued 13 demands calling on qatar to stop supporting groups they see as extremist, telling it to curb its ties with iran and demanding it shut down the al—jazeera news network which is funded by the qatari government. those demands all boil down to qatar's neighbours saying, fall into line and stop pursuing an independent foreign policy. qatar

qatar is diplomatically in a spot at the moment, just as qatar airways is in a spot. you can solve several problems. you could try and break some of the unity of the u.s. airlines against gulf carries. -- gulf carriers. you can get a voice in washington to talk about the visa restrictions that are a problems were gulf carriers and buff up the image of qatar a bit. >> is it going to work? david: ha! i suspect not. you saw those comments from doug parker. they are pretty tough. especially the sort of comments for a potential major shareholder. they've misread the mood. american airlines does not want to attract a twitter thunderbolt from donald trump. it doesn't want to attract from -- opposition from its pilots union. and it's benefiting from growth. we had some air traffic control privatization which is in the form that u.s. airlines wants. thos laptop and visa bans, are the same things that u.s. airlines want. a look at where going.e's been this is bloomberg. ♪ ♪ >> welcome back to "best of bloomberg markets: middle east." chinese investment into israel has jumpe

and presenting that to qatar underworld ina public presenting that to qatar underworld in a public manner. is it a toning down of the demands?” in a public manner. is it a toning down of the demands? i don't think it isa down of the demands? i don't think it is a toning down, no, the principles are the same. it may be a question of how the principles are worked out in reality. so, there is no, i don't think there is dispute about the need globally to prevent the funding of extremism and terrorism. no, these were specific demands. what was wrong about going public with them ? demands. what was wrong about going public with them? were you embarrassed about them ? public with them? were you embarrassed about them? no, we were not embarrassed. what happens in the eastis not embarrassed. what happens in the east is the desire to its —— save face. we engaged in a confidential manner in passing on their demands. this is the same reason why in 2013 and 2014 the agreements with signed with qatar were also kept confidential and secret on the request of the qataris government. in the spirit of

or leaning toward qatar at least because they know the importance of qatar in the fight against terrorism, for u.s. military operations in the region, as well as they know how important it is to have qatar on their side in terms of cracking down on terror financing. for them, a united gcc is more important than a dis-united gcc. the problem with the four countries that have imposed these sanctions is that they escalated to quickly and too much -- they escalated too quickly and too much. they cannot really increase the pressure without going to war, and that is the strategic dilemma they are in. they cannot really further increase pressure and at the same time cannot be seen as backing down. qatar seems to be more resilient, able to deal with it better than they initially thought. >> thank you for joining us from king's college in london. we appreciate your insights. it is time to talk he mobility -- e-mobility. >> that's right. i have two announcements that raise eyebrows in the automotive world. german carmaker daimler says it will build car batteries in china with both sides coughing up

what is at stake for saudi arabia and qatar? time is running out. >> yes, the time is defininely tickining. there was a very long and forceful risk of demands on thth table byby thosese arab countris leled by saudi arabia. and thatat includes the financig of terrorism and extremimism. this has come through h the key popoint where qatar still feelst is beingng very hard done by, pointing towards what it feels it has done already anand other countrtries in the region who it says a are also not e exactly innocecent b bkers. having said that,t, there is als the demand for a shohort timimef the al j jazeera netetwork, whis a critical forcece that t s clearly toucuched a raw nerve in the past, criticizing sasaudi arabia but of coururse not criticizing g qatar itself.f. we are expececting the deadlineo run outithout anything germanic happening. there are the c countries - -- anytything d dramatic happening. ththere are the countries meetig in egypt andnd will basicacallye their respsponse to the e list f demamands. that w will be a pot

qatar has refused. on the syrian civil war, qatar admitted today it had made mistakes in the past over which rebel groups to support. but so too says qatar have other countries in the region. when i met qatar's foreign minister in london today he insisted the terrorism accusation was just an excuse to rob qatar of an independent foreign policy. qatar has never and will never support any terrorist movement or will never allow terrorism funds to be raised from qatar or to be channelled through qatar and will take whatever measures it takes in order to get rid of them. qatar matters to britain. it has huge investments in the uk economy. these include britain's tallest building, the london shard; a 50% stake in the canary wharf development; all of the luxury of the supermarket group sainsbury‘s. their uk investments total around £40 billion. then there's the us. qatar hosts the pentagon's largest air base in the middle east, a vital part of the us—led war on so—called islamic state. washington and ku

if the uae hacked qatar to suggest... so, the uae did not ask, orchestrate or plan or ask someone else to hack qatar? not at all. categorically no? no. do you accept someone categorically did? i had heard that the russians had been involved. and i actually don't think that there was any hacking. so, you think that the emir of qatar did say those things. you don't accept their denials? no, i don't accept their denials, we don't accept their denials, but we all know that they have established links with hezbollah, with hamas, and with the iranians, their foreign minister met with the head of the al-quds brigade, you know, this is a guy who is famous for slaughtering sunnis in iraq and syria. what denial is there? you are, of course, ambassador in russia. have you asked the russians about this? no, i haven't. why not? it simply didn't come up. are you not curious to establish what information there is? on what precisely? on what exactly was said, and whether there was any hacking. the russians, if there was hacking, then, yo

good relationship with qatar they share a big natural gas. and they enjoy diplomatic relations but beyond that it's not going to you know mean anything too big right i'm going forward bigger for qatar definitely definitely thank you so much from just down the street. fluctuating oil prices politics and new economic data have a number of currencies on a bit of a roller coaster ride and lined up next to the greenback from canada to europe and asia currencies are on the move and depending where you live that can be good news or very bad names are sent out some high leverage center on top with the latest for us alex let's start in your neck of the ones here many predict a rise in the canadian dollar but a number of factors come into play that could very possibly change everything what can you tell us i would say you know as a matter of perspective on what side of business you're on if you're manufacturing the dollar is canadian dollar dropping is a great thing if you're a tourist well you want to be a little bit stronger when you're going to the

funds to be raised from qatar or to be channelled through qatar. and will take whatever measure it takes in order to get rid of them. and therefore, this is qatar moving from a strategic dimension in countering terrorism, and others who are willing to contribute more. we are investing in education in those four other countries. frank 6ardner joins us frank 6ardnerjoins us in the studio. before he went to poland today, donald trump did speak to the egyptian president to see if they could mediate a solution. but it does not look as if it is de—escalating. does not look as if it is de-escalating. no, and egypt could not mediate as an honest broker because egypt and qatar have long had bad relations. when president mubarak was president of egypt, he finally paid a visit to qatar, and he said he visited aljazeera, and he said he visited aljazeera, and he said, "all this noise from just this room?" he said, "all this noise from just this room? " he he said, "all this noise from just this room?" he could not believe it, and relations have often been ver

it doesn't specify qatar. sayingdi's are basically the qatar -- the saudis are basically saying they are not sticking to it. yousef: always a pleasure having you on the show. on that note, a reminder you can check out "bloomberg daybreak." you can see the front page story very clearly here, with the key headline being the intrigue of qatar and other key stories watch. you can customize it as well. still to come, keeping up with the times. we speak to this with computer accessories maker logitech about the changing tech landscape. is it going to be keyboards and mice for years to come, or not? shery: next, turkey's high-stakes scheme. our interview with the deputy prime minister about the implications of support for qatar. this is bloomberg. ♪ ♪ shery: this is "bloomberg markets: middle east." i'm shery ahn and hong kong -- in hong kong. yousef: let's pick up on the story around qatar. the deputy prime minister of turkey is calling for dialogue over the crisis. he said he is hopeful of a peaceful resolution

operation between qatar saudi the u.s. and others there's been money used and so on at least that's as far as the intelligence reports suggest mistakes have been mean but that doesn't mean by that it is that as if that country just sort of it but that. said there is a difference between the individual you know was sponsoring terrorism and the government level less by the sort of that it is a bit of a saudi arabia as one of the few countries that titters them is punishable by a break up of the punishment we don't get it is a very very very very very likely and saudi arabia have. played a very very big part not only in saudi arabia but on the world to fight terrorism and be as one of the most successful country in and fight and yeah and fighting terrorism we did we did it is a very very very very very heavily and i could notice it was not annoying the gulf states sort of the out of the middle east that simply changing the lives of everybody out on the whole would look at look at airport security in every country in the world

money could be pulled out of banks and qatar. -- in qatar. of course qatar is a very rich country that could have a singapore-like independence for a while. but this is about a lot more. this is about the coherence of the gulf region and its stability. that is also what the german foreign minister is closely cooperating about. they are trying to show a united front because it is in no one's interest to see a destabilization of this region. brent: thank you very much. for more on the economic implications of the qatar crisis, christoph is here. christoph: as we just heard, the general mood in doha is defiance and qatar is flexing its economic muscle. on tuesday the country announced it would sharply increase energy production, suggesting it was gearing up for a protracted dispute with its gulf neighbors. reporter: qataris are the wealthiest people in the world thanks to their natural gas reserves. qatar is the world's top producer of liquefied natural gas. the country's production easily outpaces neighbors malaysia and australia at 77 million

qatar has given its response to the demands. it's not known what the letter contains, nor if the month-long crisis is anywhere near being resolved. support for the leader remains strong, with images of him showing up throughout the country in support. the saudi led bloc will meet to plan their next move, likely a contentious and bizarre meeting. let's go to delhi. -- to doha. give me a sense of what the healing is on the ground as we can down to the second deadline. >> good morning. same mood of defiance on the ground, qataris gathering together in the evening, carrying the images. there are big posters where they writ messagese of support for their ruler, but there is also tension. people don't know where this crisis is going to go, how it will end. we don't know what the conference of the response is. qatar's foreign minister is meeting with his german counterpart later today. we might get insight into that. in, it'st me jump angie in hong kong. how does washington play and this? we have learned that president trump has been i

airlines, qatar airlines is trying to buy a 10% stake in american airlines which the board of american is not too thrilled about but there isn't much they can do about it. at the same tie they are accused qatar of receiving benefits from their government, which they say is putting them at a disadvantage and isa putting them at a disadvantage and is a asking the white house to look at this. is any of this political? is this related to that at all? it isn't related and what is interesting you have the ceo of qatar airlines saying that ban it faces in the monfils is having an impact on profits. this code sharing agreement is not likely to have a huge impact on qatar airlines profit, but it shows the tensions that exist between the carrier, and its american counterpart, and i think it is one to watch, certainly asi think it is one to watch, certainly as i mentioned american airlines has gone to the us government to ask for

of qatar. the saudi-led coalition has issued 13 demands on qatar including ththe closing of the l g0 tv channel. other demands on qatar include ending its support for the muslim brotherhood, downgrading diplomatic ties with iran and closing a turkish military base in qatar. the diplomatic standoff began soon after president trump met saudi king salman in riyadh. we'll have more on the diplomatic crisis in the gulf later in the broadcast. in a rock, u.s. b backed desk in backed in iraq, u.s. iraqi forces are continuing to fight isis in a few remaining neighborhoods of mosul. iraqi military officials say they expect to seize control of the entire city of mosul by the end of the week. the fighting has forced hundreds of thousands to flee the city, while u.s. led airstrikes backing the ground offensive have reportedly killed hundreds of civilians. in lebanon, two separate fires tore through syrian refugee camps in recent days, killing at least one girl and injuring nearly two dozen others. on sunda

qatar denies the allegations. yousef: it has been a knowledge for the first time on paper, -- they withdraw from the block. has put -- as high as $1.14 billion. according to people familiar with the matter, buying a single name stocks, bonds and concentrating exchange funds will be heavy. any sale must also be preapproved by the compliance department of hsbc. global news 24 hours a day, powered by more than 2700 journalists and analysts in more than 120 countries. i am tracy alloway. yousef: france says it is into the isolation of qatar. >> france is calling for these measures to be lifted, especially the ones that affect the population, specifically the measures that affect binational families is separated because of them. tracy: let's get more on this from mohammed survey, joins us from doha. several foreign ministers have made it to qatar in the recent weeks, trying to find a way to the end of sanctions. is western diplomacy working? >> as you mentioned, you have these four powers that have come but kuwait is l

and that qatar deadline. this is bloomberg. ♪ rishaad: you are back with bloomberg markets, i am a shot salon that. angie: i am angie lau. let's bring back richard fanning and talk about qatar. according to a saudi dress agency, theess saudi block did get qatar's response, and they are to apply at "the right time." where does this leave the gcc? richard: it leaves them in a real mess. it is a much harder geopolitical drama to understand the north korea. north korea places in its view, annexes that -- existential threat. its nuclear program is the one thing it believes keeps it safe. what is going on between qatar and saudi arabia come up party to understand. wealthy countries, similar economies, monarchies. but for whatever reason, have gone off on divergent paths. saudi arabia, with support of the uae, prosecuting a more aggressive agenda toward qatar. it revolves around allegations of backing of terrorism. they both back different groups in the region. but really, qatar has tried to carve out for itself a

go along and do it he seems reckless and as far as qatar goes you know i mean and the qatar situation to get it shows again this would normally split and really a factor we have to consider is incompetence in washington right now because you've got to listen and not to some one side saying they want to negotiate selman and drops going out on twitter you know back in saudi arabia to saudi arabia to the hill to calling qatar the largest purveyor of terrorism in the world so you've got they've got to get together on the same page somehow or we don't know what's going to happen but they certainly are not. they are being lobbied to be the force for a war against iran and in southeast syria right now and out time for they are backing still their own rebels this is clearly an attempt to cut off the baghdad damascus highway which the iranians used to supply has this is israel's main concern is that the iranians continue to supply his blood they've been doing it by air but this is a land route that the americans i think the trying to cut off that seems to be what their aim is although that's a

it is not qatar and kuwait. it is these support coming out ies by groups that challenge the stability of the governing entities in the uae and saudi and bahrain and egypt. be sure, ao legitimate concern with terrorist financing in qatar, and i am not saying it is pretext, but it is not the full text of what is going on in the gulf right now. thank you, david. we will get a microphone to you. >> so i wanted to ask about another dimension of the gulf , which is kidnapping for ransom, something which i think all of you have worked on, but, david, you have been very public about. i understand there is a report under the state authorization ,ct being produced for congress which would be a public report on which countries in the last year the u.s. government knows provided ransom to terrorist groups. there have been a number of press reports citing either government officials or private sources, alleging that qatar has paid numerous ransoms to terrorist groups. course, denies doing so. i am wondering if you're in a po

qatar has been affected. qatar is slightly wider than it used to be, but considering the expense and the seriousness of the blockade, if you compare market performance to that seriousness, i think market performance in qatar has been relatively performing quite well considering the seriousness of the situation. we have to bear in mind that we are talking about incredibly wealthy countries with strong reserve situations, and that has limited the market impact of the political standoff. tracy: i think those reserves are helping qatar, but we have seen a parallel emerging and trading at a weaker rate. how big is the pressure on the currency and will there be a time frame when qatar will have -- will eventually have to give up the dollar paid if this continues? >> no, i don't think there is any pressure on the dollar peg. if they want to sustain the peg, they can sustain the peg. it is a very small economy. it is a small country with a small local population, and a strong reserve situations area -- strong reserve

there will be a parting of ways with qatar. >> qatar is remaining defiant. we'll wait and see. thank you. >>> still ahead here on "newsroom," as their country runs out of supplies, bus loads of venezuelans are heading across the border in order to feed their families. we'll look at the journey ahead. >>> also this. >> these are the last images of the hot shots, preparing to fight the fire that will kill them. >>> cnn speaks with the families of 19 brave firefighters who die protecting their city in one of the deadliest fires in u.s. history. much of the western united states is dealing with the same issue. we'll be right back. these days families want to be connected 24/7. that's why at comcast, we're always working to make our services more reliable. with technology that can update itself. and advanced fiber network infrastructure. new, more reliable equipment for your home. and a new culture built around customer service. it all adds up to our most reliable network ever. one that keeps you connected to what matters most. >>> 4:32 a.m. on the east coast. you're watching cnn ne

qatar stocks rebounding selectively. qatar gas up, qatar navigation as well. the other story is the selloff in the emerging markets or off of it -- off the back of emerging markets. more popular defensive space, look at that. here is a check of the first word headlines. >> thank you. president trump and president putin held the first meeting in hamburg. trump raised the issue of russian interference u.s. elections several times. putin denied meddling in the election, but both sides emerged with different accounts of trumps response. moscow said trump accepted the denial but washington said trump merely agreed that the two sides should move on from the issue. >> our position is known. there is no ground for saying russia interfered in the u.s. election. turkish president brca 1 expressed backing off of qatar. he said at the g20 meeting that accusations aimed at qatar by neighbors was unfair. he also said that they were inappropriate. there are allegations against qatar, we believe those are unfair and sanctions are not right. just like all countries in the --ld

qatar is a significant producer of gas. in the uk we take quite a bit of qatar gas. gas is certainly within that — coil obviously as well. when you wake up to the headlines this morning, it makes you want to go back to bed —— oil. especially at 3am. it isn't saved out there. arab news talking about that meeting, massive story in the least with huge ramifications and focusing on turkey as well. that's just as march nearing the finish line. there is always discontent in just about every country. this is significant, isn't it? the discontent in turkey has been rising and falling for the last few years. many would say suppressed as well. and this is a point. we have to say that erdogan is a democratically elected president, however there are accusations it is becoming autocratic, erdogan becoming autocratic, erdogan becoming autocratic. with respect to the referendum which gave him more powers the opposition has been accusing erdogan of some apt analogy. and with respect to this march, starting with a few hundred people, it has grown into the thousands. this is a p

the foreign ministers of or arab states have cut ties with qatar met in cairo, accusing qatar of sponsoring terrorism and already cut commercial tieie delhi denies that, saying qatar champions freedom, not terrorism, in the middle east. we have no cave-in from qatar. we have no new sanctions from saudi arabia and its allies.. wherere are we? whwhat does this mean? >>>> good evening. good queststion. i thihink we are exactly where e were three weeks ago.. we have seen t the same unsubsbstantiated clalaims witit any real evidence being provided. at thehe same time, , they havet really com upp with any new demands or any further sanctions, which is what was expected initially, so they will reconvene in a couple of days and probably come up with further sanctions or some sort of reaction. they said they were not happy with qatar's reply. we have to see what actually will come out of it. >> it sounds like empty threats. they have extended the deadline. now the deadline has passed and nothing is happening. as youou said, we're bacack whee were four weeks ago. >> rightht. i think k what we see her

we have seen during the last day of this crisis there arises around qatar qatar is directly i mean. to be poor to. a group. to where fueling terrorism and this crisis is not between qatar and start with. third and fourth major countries in the east including egypt which is a center of gravity of the award in that each and ok kill i mean how carrying divine how how real is it in how is it being used as a political tool i mean if you look at syria for example a secular society. certainly ruled by iron hand but they did did not have that kind of sectarian divide and now it is important to them i mean it seems to me that washington is pick the sunni's israel is overjoyed because it wants to see the sunni and shia fight and it gives them a breathing room and actually to expand and then you have golan heights it seems to me it's a political tool the sectarianism it is it it isn't innate in the populations of the country because we always began with these are royal families these are dictatorships in there are people here not necessarily states go ahead joe that's a good question first i a

. —— something that qatar denies. —— something that qatar denies. they have stopped flights to doha, and on top of the land border with saudi arabia has been closed which was used to import 40% of qatar's food, you can imagine the consequences that. live from new york, good to see is the mirror, guess the question here is what influence, what pressure could the wto apply even if it concluded that qatar had a point? the world trade organisation is really responsible for adjudicating any sort of trade disputes and what qatar has said in their complaint is that these countries are using coercive attem pts countries are using coercive attempts at economic isolation. by complaining to the wto qatar is enforcing all three countries to the table to try and resolve the dispute and if they don't then they could face litigation with the wto, so they could face quite a bit of pressure from them. most countries would want to avoid that. now, saudi arabia, the united arab emirate money of the country have all said that if qatar does this they will cite national