By The Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Leaders in Qatar and Saudi Arabia have had their first high-level contact since a diplomatic crisis engulfing Doha began three months ago, but the terms of what was discussed are now in dispute.

Both governments acknowledged early Saturday that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman spoke with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

The state-run Qatar News Agency then published an account of the call saying the two countries agreed to send envoys to resolve the ongoing diplomatic crisis.

A short time later, the state-run Saudi Press Agency published a statement disputing that, saying the call was at Qatar’s request and all communication would be cut off over this newest dispute.

Four Arab nations began their boycott of Qatar on June 5. Mediation efforts so far have stalled.</s>DUBAI (Reuters) - The spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood attended a ceremony organized by Saudi Arabia in Qatar on Friday, signaling an easing of Riyadh’s hostility toward the Islamist movement.

Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi, a Qatar-based cleric whose fiery sermons have strained ties with Gulf neighbors, appeared alongside the Qatari prime minister and the Saudi ambassador at an event in Doha to celebrate Saudi Arabia’s national day.

The accession to the Saudi throne in January of King Salman, who is more sympathetic to religious conservatives than his predecessor King Abdullah, caused glimmers of hope among Muslim Brotherhood exiles in Qatar that the Middle East’s political winds had started to shift in their favor, potentially giving the Islamist group more space to act.

Salman, while stopping short of befriending the Brotherhood, has worked to reduce tensions with the movement’s own allies, strengthening Riyadh’s ties with Turkey and Qatar and reaching out to Islah, the Islamist group’s offshoot in Yemen.

“We are optimistic now,” said an Egyptian Brotherhood member living in Qatar who declined to be named.

“The new (Saudi) leadership could mean a new era for the Middle East, where Islamists are worked with and seen as partners rather than demonized.”

Qaradawi, who was born in Egypt, has often in his sermons admonished the authorities in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, who see the Brotherhood as an insidious threat to regional stability through its activities in Egypt and other Arab countries.

In May an Egyptian court sentenced Qaradawi to death in absentia in a case relating to a mass jail break in 2011.

Arguments over the Brotherhood, the most influential Islamist group in the world, were at the heart of a rift among Gulf Arab states that in 2014 saw Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain pull their ambassadors from Doha.

They only returned after Qatar said it would not allow itself to be used by the Brotherhood for its activities.</s>DUBAI, Sept 9 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia on Saturday suspended any dialogue with Qatar, accusing it of "distorting facts", just after a report of a phone call between the leaders of both countries suggested a breakthrough in the Gulf dispute.

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman spoke by the telephone with Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani on Friday when they discussed the Gulf dispute, state media from both countries reported earlier.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain cut diplomatic and trade links with Qatar on June 5, suspending air and shipping routes with the world's biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas, which is home to the region's biggest U.S. military base.

The nations say Doha supports regional foe Iran and Islamists, charges Qatar's leaders deny. Kuwait has been trying to mediate the dispute.

"During the call, the Emir of Qatar expressed his desire to sit at the dialogue table and discuss the demands of the four countries to ensure the interests of all," Saudi state news agency SPA reported.

"The details will be announced later after the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia concludes an understanding with the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Bahrain and the Arab Republic of Egypt," SPA said.

The phone call was the first publicly reported contact between the two leaders since the start of the crisis.

Qatar's state news agency QNA said the phone call was based on coordination of U.S. President Donald Trump who had earlier talked with Sheikh Tamim.

Trump on Thursday said he would be willing to step in and mediate the worst dispute in decades among the U.S.-allied Arab states and Qatar, and said he thinks a deal could come quickly.

Both Qatar's Emir and the Saudi Crown Prince "stressed the need to resolve the crisis by sitting down to the dialogue table to ensure the unity and stability of the GCC countries," QNA reported.

Sheikh Tamim welcomed the proposal of Prince Mohammed during the call "to assign two envoys to resolve controversial issues in a way that does not affect the sovereignty of the states," QNA said.

Saudi Arabia later issued a second statement citing an unnamed official at the ministry of the foreign affairs denying the QNA report.

"What was published on the Qatar News Agency is a continuation of the distortion of the Qatari authority of the facts," SPA reported citing the Saudi official.

"The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia announces the suspension of any dialogue or communication with the authority in Qatar until a clear statement is issued clarifying its position in public." (Reporting by Rania El Gamal; additional reporting by Mohamed El Sherif and Mostafa Hashem in Cairo; Editing by Sandra Maler and Lisa Shumaker)</s>The Cold War in The Desert, the protracted diplomatic and economic severing of times between Qatar and the quartet of Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bargain and Egypt, appears to have become more entrenched after an attempt at dialogue that seems to have gone wrong.

READ MORE: Cold War in The Desert–How the Qatar crisis is becoming a stalemate

Recently, Donald Trump held conversations with the leadership in Saudi, Qatar and the UAE. Shortly thereafter Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani spoke on the phone with Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman (MBS). It appears that the Thani-MBS phone call is the origin of the latest spat between Riyadh and Doha.

Shortly after the Thani-MBS conversation, Qatari media reported that the discussion had generally been positive and that Saudi make a proposal to “assign two envoys to resolve the dispute in a way that respects the sovereignty of state”.

For reasons that are not entirely clear, Saudi Arabia reacted furiously with the Qatari reports, issuing the following statement as a result,

When contrasted with more politically developed nations, Saudi Arabia’s diplomatic protocol is far more crude, something which has only been exacerbated under the effective rule of MBS. It would appear that Saudi officials thought the entire nature and possibly even the existence of the conversation was supposed to be covert, even though it is very common for countries to release formal transcripts of conversations between leaders. Russia for example diligently releases such transcripts in multiple multi-lingual editions, so long as there are no objections from any side.

The proximate cause of the crisis originated from reports in Qatari media which officials in Doha stated were ‘fake news’ that quoted the Emir of Qatar praising Iran and Hezbollah. This was apparently taken by Saudi at face value and as a result Riyal led a group of nations against Qatar in a continuing diplomatic/economic boycott.

In June of this year, Saudi issued a bizarre and unworkable ultimatum to Qatar which effectively asked Doha to surrender its foreign policy, economic policy and diplomatic sovereignty to Saudi in order to restore relations. Qatar quickly rejected the demands which were likely never expected to be taken seriously in the first place.

The latest row is merely a further salvo in an ongoing row, one that will not end any time soon, in spite of Donald Trump’s high hopes that he could create a unified position in the Persian Gulf states against Iran.

With Qatar and Iran continuing the move closer to one another, even if Saudi were to reconcile itself with Doha, Trump’s position is becoming increasingly untenable.</s>Saudi Arabia says it has suspended any dialogue with Qatar, accusing it of “distorting facts,” just after reports that Saudi and Qatari leaders had spoken by phone and agreed to talks.

Saudi Arabia’s Saudi Press Agency said late Friday that a Qatari report about a phone call between Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman “did not have any relevance to the truth.”

Qatari sources reported the two men agreed by telephone to appoint envoys for possible talks to work out the differences between Qatar and its neighbors.

According to the Saudi news agency, Qatar initiated the phone call and asked for dialogue with Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. All of those governments cut off diplomatic ties with Qatar in June, alleging Qatar supports extremists and has ties to Iran.

After Friday’s phone call and the disputed report, Saudi news said, “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia declares that any dialogue or communication with the authority in Qatar shall be suspended until a clear statement explaining its position is made in public and that its public statements are in conformity with its obligations.”

Also Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump made telephone calls to Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates a day after saying he is willing to help ease the dispute between Qatar and its neighbors.

At a joint news conference with Kuwait’s Emir Sabah al-Ahmed al-Jaber al-Sabah, the president said he would be willing to mediate talks.

“I would be willing to do so, and I think you’d have a deal worked out very quickly,” Trump said. “I think it’s something that’s going to get solved fairly easily.”

Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates cut all ties with Qatar after accusing it of having ties with Shiite Iran and fundamentalist Islamist groups.

The Arab nations have made several demands of Qatar, and Kuwait has been trying to mediate the dispute.

Sheikh Sabah said he had received a letter from Qatar that expressed willingness to discuss a list of 13 demands from its neighbors. He expressed hope that “a great part of them will be resolved.”

Saudi Arabia and Qatar are both important allies of the U.S. in the restive region. Qatar is home to the region’s biggest U.S. military base.</s>Saudi Arabia on Saturday suspended any dialogue with Qatar, accusing it of "distorting facts", just after a report of a phone call between the leaders of both countries suggested a breakthrough in the Gulf dispute.

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman spoke by telephone with Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani on Friday when they discussed the Gulf dispute, state media from both countries reported earlier.

Saudi Arabia led the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain in cutting ties with Qatar in June, accusing it of bankrolling Islamist extremist groups and of being too close to Iran. Doha denies the accusations.

According to earlier reports, the crown prince welcomed the desire to end the dispute.

The Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported that details would be announced after Saudi Arabia reaches an agreement with UAE and Bahrain and Egypt.

But hopes of a breakthrough were dashed as reports of the call emerged.

On Thursday Donald Trump offered to mediate in the crisis, saying he believed the dispute could be solved "fairly easily."</s>DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia on Saturday suspended any dialogue with Qatar, accusing it of “distorting facts”, just after a report of a phone call between the leaders of both countries suggested a breakthrough in the Gulf dispute.

FILE PHOTO - Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman gestures during a military parade by Saudi security forces in preparation for the annual Haj pilgrimage in the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, August 23, 2017. Saudi Press Agency/Handout via REUTERS

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman spoke by the telephone with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani on Friday when they discussed the Gulf dispute, state media from both countries reported earlier.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain cut diplomatic and trade links with Qatar on June 5, suspending air and shipping routes with the world’s biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas, which is home to the region’s biggest U.S. military base.

The nations say Doha supports regional foe Iran and Islamists, charges Qatar’s leaders deny. Kuwait has been trying to mediate the dispute.

“During the call, the Emir of Qatar expressed his desire to sit at the dialogue table and discuss the demands of the four countries to ensure the interests of all,” Saudi state news agency SPA reported.

“The details will be announced later after the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia concludes an understanding with the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Bahrain and the Arab Republic of Egypt,” SPA said.

The phone call was the first publicly reported contact between the two leaders since the start of the crisis.

Qatar’s state news agency QNA said the phone call was based on coordination of U.S. President Donald Trump who had earlier talked with Sheikh Tamim.

Trump on Thursday said he would be willing to step in and mediate the worst dispute in decades among the U.S.-allied Arab states and Qatar, and said he thinks a deal could come quickly.

Both Qatar’s Emir and the Saudi Crown Prince “stressed the need to resolve the crisis by sitting down to the dialogue table to ensure the unity and stability of the GCC countries,” QNA reported.

Sheikh Tamim welcomed the proposal of Prince Mohammed during the call “to assign two envoys to resolve controversial issues in a way that does not affect the sovereignty of the states,” QNA said.

Related Coverage Trump speaks with leaders of Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar

Saudi Arabia later issued a second statement citing an unnamed official at the ministry of the foreign affairs denying the QNA report.

“What was published on the Qatar News Agency is a continuation of the distortion of the Qatari authority of the facts,” SPA reported citing the Saudi official.

“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia announces the suspension of any dialogue or communication with the authority in Qatar until a clear statement is issued clarifying its position in public.”</s>RIYADH: Saudi Arabia on Saturday suspended any dialogue with Qatar , accusing it of distorting facts soon after a phone call between the rulers of both countries offered hope of a breakthrough in the three-month-old Gulf crisis.

Qatar's emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani , spoke to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to express interest in talks, state media from both sides said, in the first public engagement between the leaders after the US president offered to mediate in the crisis.

Saudi Arabia led the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain in cutting ties with Qatar in June, accusing it of bankrolling Islamist extremist groups and of being too close to regional rival Iran. Doha denies the accusations.

The crown prince "welcomed this desire," the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) initially reported, adding "details will be announced after Saudi Arabia reaches an agreement with UAE and Bahrain and Egypt".

But the prospect of a thaw quickly died down after SPA subsequently accused Qatar's state media of wrongly implying that Saudi Arabia had initiated the outreach.

"The contact was at the request of Qatar and its request for dialogue," SPA said, citing a Saudi foreign ministry official.

"Qatar is not serious in dialogue and continues its previous policies. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia declares that any dialogue with Qatar shall be suspended until a clear statement explaining its position is made in public."

The development came after US President Donald Trump on Friday spoke separately with the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE.

"The President underscored that unity among the United States' Arab partners is essential to promoting regional stability and countering the threat of Iran," the White House said.

"The President also emphasised that all countries must follow through on commitments... to defeat terrorism, cut off funding for terrorist groups, and combat extremist ideology."

When he offered to mediate, Trump said he believed the dispute could be solved "fairly easily".

Despite the deadlock, observers said the telephone call between the Qatari and Saudi rulers itself was a sign that tensions were dissipating.

"The fact that the telephone call took place and the offer of dialogue was made is significant in itself," said Kristian Ulrichsen, a fellow at the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University.

"(It) signals a climb down from the brinkmanship that has characterised so much of the Gulf standoff since June," Ulrichsen told AFP.

But diplomatic efforts led by Kuwait, a key mediator in the crisis backed by Western powers, have so far failed to achieve a breakthrough.

In Washington on Thursday, Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah offered Trump an upbeat assessment of his efforts so far.

But in a statement early Friday, the Saudi-led bloc showed no signs of backing down as it questioned the Kuwaiti emir's statement that Qatar would be willing to accept their 13 demands.

The demands include shutting Doha-based broadcaster Al-Jazeera, closing a Turkish military base in the emirate and downgrading Qatari diplomatic ties with Iran.

The bloc also voiced "regret" about the Kuwaiti ruler's statement "on the success of mediation in stopping military intervention".

Instead, the four Arab states stressed that "the military option has not been and will not be considered" under any circumstances.

Riyadh and Doha are both key allies of the United States, which has sent mixed signals on its policy towards the nations.

Trump, who chose Saudi Arabia for his first overseas visit as president in May, two weeks before the crisis erupted, immediately expressed staunch support for Saudi Arabia.

Some other US officials including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson adopted a more measured tone.

Qatar hosts a huge US air base, home to the headquarters of Centcom -- the regional command which leads operations against the Islamic State jihadist group.

Sheikh Tamim is set to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel for talks on September 15, in what will be his first trip to a western capital since the crisis began.</s>The Cold War in The Desert, the protracted diplomatic and economic severing of times between Qatar and the quartet of Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bargain and Egypt, appears to have become more entrenched after an attempt at dialogue that seems to have gone wrong.

READ MORE: Cold War in The Desert–How the Qatar crisis is becoming a stalemate

Recently, Donald Trump held conversations with the leadership in Saudi, Qatar and the UAE. Shortly thereafter Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani spoke on the phone with Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman (MBS). It appears that the Thani-MBS phone call is the origin of the latest spat between Riyadh and Doha.

Shortly after the Thani-MBS conversation, Qatari media reported that the discussion had generally been positive and that Saudi make a proposal to “assign two envoys to resolve the dispute in a way that respects the sovereignty of state”.

For reasons that are not entirely clear, Saudi Arabia reacted furiously with the Qatari reports, issuing the following statement as a result,

When contrasted with more politically developed nations, Saudi Arabia’s diplomatic protocol is far more crude, something which has only been exacerbated under the effective rule of MBS. It would appear that Saudi officials thought the entire nature and possibly even the existence of the conversation was supposed to be covert, even though it is very common for countries to release formal transcripts of conversations between leaders. Russia for example diligently releases such transcripts in multiple multi-lingual editions, so long as there are no objections from any side.

The proximate cause of the crisis originated from reports in Qatari media which officials in Doha stated were ‘fake news’ that quoted the Emir of Qatar praising Iran and Hezbollah. This was apparently taken by Saudi at face value and as a result Riyal led a group of nations against Qatar in a continuing diplomatic/economic boycott.

In June of this year, Saudi issued a bizarre and unworkable ultimatum to Qatar which effectively asked Doha to surrender its foreign policy, economic policy and diplomatic sovereignty to Saudi in order to restore relations. Qatar quickly rejected the demands which were likely never expected to be taken seriously in the first place.

The latest row is merely a further salvo in an ongoing row, one that will not end any time soon, in spite of Donald Trump’s high hopes that he could create a unified position in the Persian Gulf states against Iran.

With Qatar and Iran continuing the move closer to one another, even if Saudi were to reconcile itself with Doha, Trump’s position is becoming increasingly untenable.</s>Leaders in Qatar and Saudi Arabia have had their first high-level contact since a diplomatic crisis engulfing Doha began three months ago, but the terms of what was discussed are now in dispute.

Both governments acknowledged early Saturday that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman spoke with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

The state-run Qatar News Agency then published an account of the call saying the two countries agreed to send envoys to resolve the ongoing diplomatic crisis.

A short time later, the state-run Saudi Press Agency published a statement disputing that, saying the call was at Qatar’s request and all communication would be cut off over this newest dispute.

Four Arab nations began their boycott of Qatar on June 5. Mediation efforts so far have stalled.
Saudi Arabia suspends any dialogue with Qatar, accusing it of “distorting facts” in its reporting of yesterday's phone call between the leaders of both countries which suggested a breakthrough in the Gulf dispute was possible.