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A2 UP FRONT
Thursday 13 July 2017
Anti-Qatar bloc meets US envoy Tillerson In Paris, Trump is Bastille Day

No breakthrough in sight guest in a city he has derided

By ADAM SCHRECK day was “not enough” to would undermine its sover- By LORI HINNANT
Associated Press ease their concerns. eignty. Associated Press
DUBAI, United Arab Emir- Tillerson’s visit to Saudi The head of Qatar’s gov- PARIS (AP) — President Donald Trump’s visit to Paris on
ates (AP) — U.S. Secre- Arabia included talks with ernment communica- Thursday will take him to a city he has repeatedly de-
tary of State Rex Tillerson King Salman and his pow- tion office, Sheikh Saif bin rided — and at the side of a French leader best known
wrapped up talks with the erful son Mohammed bin Ahmed Al Thani, has ac- to Americans as the earnest young man with the end-
king of Saudi Arabia and Salman, who was recently cused the quartet of orga- less handshake.
other officials from Arab elevated to the role of nizing “a smear campaign “Paris isn’t Paris any longer,” Trump declared in Febru-
countries lined up against crown prince, placing him in the international media ary, implying the city had been ruined by jihadi attacks.
Qatar on Wednesday with next in line to the throne. to damage Qatar’s repu- “I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh,
no sign of a breakthrough He also met with the for- tation” and said they are not Paris,” he said just last month as he announced
in an increasingly en- eign ministers of the four “not interested in engag- the U.S. would leave the Paris climate agreement.
trenched dispute that has countries in the anti-Qatar ing in honest negotiations But Trump isn’t the only politician who can use Paris to
make a symbolic point.
When Trump arrives in the French capital, it will be as
French President Emmanuel Macron’s guest of honor,
with a private tour of Napoleon’s tomb, dinner at the
Eiffel Tower and, to top off the Paris tourist trifecta, a
seat at the tribune as American troops open the Bas-
tille Day parade on the Champs-Elysees.
He departed the White House on Wednesday eve-
ning, joined by his wife, first lady Melania Trump, and
top aides, including chief of staff Reince Priebus and
National Security Adviser H. R. McMaster.
The visit follows revelations this week that Trump’s el-
dest son appeared to welcome Russian help in the
U.S. election. He’ll likely face questions about that at a
news conference with Macron.
It was Macron, who at 39 is modern France’s youngest
president, whose handshake with Trump left both men
with white knuckles and clenched jaws. Macron later
described it as “a moment of truth” between them.
Still, Macron extended an invitation to Trump to join
the national day celebrations, commemorating the
100th anniversary of the U.S. entry into World War I.
And the meetings on Thursday have been billed by
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, center left, is welcomed by Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al- both governments as a time to deepen the ties that
Jubeir upon his arrival in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, July 12, 2017. Tillerson has held talks
with the king of Saudi Arabia and other officials from the countries lined up against Qatar, but bind the U.S. and France.
there has been no sign of a breakthrough so far in an increasingly entrenched dispute that has “What our two countries share is stronger (than our
divided some of America’s most important Mideast allies. differences), given our peoples and our histories and
(U.S. State Department, via AP) our values as well. So yes, there is a disagreement, like
divided some of America’s bloc. Officials gave little to resolve our differences.” I said to President Trump, and then I said it publicly,
most important Mideast al- indication of what was dis- The anti-Qatar bloc took because there is nothing to hide. That being said, it
lies. cussed, but Tillerson was partial credit for the U.S. does not prevent us from cooperating in many fields,”
The secretary of state’s trip likely to press the bloc to counterterrorism deal Qa- Macron said Saturday.
from Kuwait to the west- ease up on some of its de- tar signed Tuesday, say- Thursday’s talks are expected to center on fighting ter-
ern Saudi city of Jiddah mands after he secured ing it was the result of “re- rorism and defense policy, two areas where French-
followed discussions the the deal for Qatar to inten- peated pressures and de- American cooperation has traditionally been strong.
previous day with the emir sify its fight against terrorism mands” by the four coun- There is little downside for Macron.
of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim and address shortfalls in tries and others, but that it “It’s important to establish a relationship that is func-
bin Hamad Al Thani, that policing terrorism funding. failed to go far enough. tional, for both Mr. Macron and Mr. Trump, to know
ended with the signing of He is expected to travel While welcoming U.S.-led where the other stands, so they can speak to each
a counterterrorism pact. back to Qatar on Thurs- efforts to dry up terrorist other, to facilitate trans-Atlantic relations,” said Yan-
Saudi Arabia, the United day for more talks with the funding, the four main- nick Mireur, a political scientist who follows U.S. politics.
Arab Emirates, Egypt and 37-year-old emir. tained a hard line that Qa- The greater risk is for Trump, said Thomas Gomart, di-
Bahrain severed relations The four anti-Qatar coun- tar must meet their list of rector of the French Institute for International Relations.
with Qatar and cut air, tries last month issued a what they said were “fair “There is a Russian sword of Damocles over Mr. Trump’s
sea and land routes with it tough 13-point list of de- and legitimate demands.” head and it’s been there since he took office. At the
over a month ago, accus- mands that included shut- “The quartet affirms that same time, Emmanuel Macron during his campaign
ing Doha of supporting ex- ting down Qatar’s flagship the measures they have and at his first meeting with Vladimir Putin was critical
tremist groups. Qatar de- Al-Jazeera network and taken were motivated by of Russian interference,” Gomart said.
nies the allegations. other news outlets, cutting the continuous and diversi- In emails made public this week, an intermediary told
The quartet has given no ties with Islamist groups fied activities of the Qatari Donald Trump Jr. that a Russian attorney had nega-
indication it would be will- such as the Muslim Broth- authorities in supporting, tive information about Democrat Hillary Clinton that
ing to back off from its erhood, limiting Qatar’s funding and harboring ter- was part of the Russian government’s efforts to help
hard-nosed stance. Just ties with Iran and expelling rorism and terrorists, as well Trump in the election campaign. “I love it,” the then-
hours before Tillerson’s ar- Turkish troops stationed in as promoting hateful and candidate’s son responded.
rival in Jiddah, the four the tiny Gulf country. extremist rhetoric and in- The revelations raise new questions about whether
Arab states said the coun- Qatar has rejected the de- terfering in the internal af- the Trump campaign coordinated with Moscow dur-
terterrorism deal that Qa- mands, saying that agree- fairs of states,” they said in ing the election, a charge the president has denied
tar signed with him on Tues- ing to them wholesale a joint statement. q for months.q