Trump berates isolated Qatar

US President Donald Trump has accused Qatar's leadership of bankrolling extremists and demanded a halt to that funding, drawing praise from Saudi Arabia and its allies.

Their approval came as Washington joined intensifying international efforts to heal the rift between the key Western Gulf allies, which has escalated into the region's worst diplomatic crisis in years.

Russia yesterday urged dialogue between the parties, as Qatar's foreign minister arrived in Moscow seeking support from abroad in the dispute.

Trump's warning overshadowed an earlier declaration from US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson -- who encouraged Saudi Arabia and its allies to ease their land and sea "blockade" of Qatar.

Tillerson said the blockade was hindering the US-led campaign against the Islamic State group and having humanitarian consequences for ordinary people.

But US officials insisted both men were sending the same message that the countries of the region should not allow their differences to hinder the fight against extremism.

Qatar is home to the largest US airbase in the Middle East, making it a key ally in the US-led coalition against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.

But it has fallen out with its Arab neighbors, who accuse it of sponsoring extremist groups, some of them allegedly linked to arch Saudi foe Iran, fomenting trouble across the region.

The neighbors also resent Qatar's ties to the Muslim Brotherhood movement and its sponsorship of the pan-Arab satellite television network Al-Jazeera, which has given opposition figures a platform.

Qatar has denounced the allegations of terror funding as baseless and has received the support of its close ally Turkey, which has approved the deployment of troops to defend the emirate.

Saudi Arabia and its allies are demanding an immediate change of policy by Qatar was essential.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain released a joint statement listing 59 entities and individuals, including members of Qatar's royal family, as involved in "terrorist" activities.

The United Nations yesterday said it is not bound by Saudi Arabia's "terror list" after the kingdom named several high-profile Qatari charities that carry out life-saving work in war-torn and impoverished countries on it.

Amnesty International also yesterday warned of the "heartbreak and fear" being suffered by potentially thousands of ordinary individuals because of the political dispute in the Gulf that has isolated Qatar.