Turkey's Tayyip Erdogan criticises Qatar sanctions

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses members of parliament last month [Umit Bektas/Reuters]

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan defended Qatar after several countries severed diplomatic ties with it, saying he personally would have intervened if accusations that the tiny Gulf emirate supports "terrorism" were true.

Erdogan stood by Qatar on Tuesday, saying he intends to "develop" ties with the embattled Gulf state hit by sanctions from Saudi Arabiaand its allies.

"Let me say at the outset that we do not think the sanctions against Qatar are good," Erdogan said in a speech in Ankara.

Sean Spicer responds to Al Jazeera on Trump tweets about Qatar

"Turkey will continue and will develop our ties with Qatar, as with all our friends who have supported us in the most difficult moments," he added in reference to last year's failed coup.

Turkey has close ties with Qatar but also has good relations with the other Gulf states, especially Saudi Arabia.

Erdogan was careful not to criticise Riyadh, calling on the member nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council to "resolve their differences through dialogue".

"Efforts to isolate Qatar ... will not solve any problem," said Erdogan, praising Doha's "cool-headedness" and "constructive approach".

Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates severed diplomatic ties and transport links with Qatar on Monday, accusing it of supporting "extremism".

"Presenting Qatar as a supporter of terrorism is a serious accusation," the Turkish leader said. "I know [Qatar's leaders] well and if that had been the case, I would have been the first head of state to confront them."

Sadiq Khan wades into police cuts row with terror warning for Theresa May

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has waded into the row over police cuts, warning the Metropolitan Police is facing the loss of thousands of frontline officers under Tory plans.

Mr Khan said the force could lose as many as 12,800 officers, which would reduce its strength by 40%, making it harder to tackle the terrorism threat.

The Labour mayor said the Met had already had to make £600m of cuts since 2010 and is now facing £400m more.

He said: "Our city has suffered two awful terrorist attacks since I was elected as mayor - and we must do everything possible to stop there being any more.

"Police officers in our communities act as the eyes and ears of the security services, providing the intelligence and information that allow us to disrupt attempted terrorist attacks.

"Cuts on this scale would make it harder to foil future terrorist attacks on our city - and as the mayor of London I'm simply not willing to stand by and let that happen."

:: Met defends dropping inquiry into London attacker

Mr Khan's comments will heap pressure on Theresa May, whose record as Home Secretary is under scrutiny in the wake of the terror attacks.

At the Home Office, Mrs May oversaw cuts of 20,000 officers despite warnings from the Police Federation, which she accused of "crying wolf".

On Monday, Jeremy Corbyn called for her resignation over the issue, and former David Cameron aide Steve Hilton said Mrs May should take responsibility for the problems facing police forces.

But the Prime Minister repeatedly refused to say she was wrong to make the cuts while she was Home Secretary and insisted counter-terrorism budgets had been protected.

Despite her assurances, Home Office documents, highlighted by The Times newspaper, show reductions in funding to the Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism (OSCT).

The OSCT is responsible for terrorism strategy at home and abroad and liaises with the intelligence services and police.

Mr Khan has come under repeated criticism from Donald Trump over his handling of the terror attacks.

The President started his Twitter assault on the London Mayor on Sunday, misrepresenting comments Mr Khan had made urging the public not to be alarmed by an increased police presence.

:: US mayors back Sadiq Khan against Trump

When Mr Khan issued a statement saying he was too busy dealing with the aftermath of a terror attack to respond to the President's comments, Mr Trump doubled down with a second insult.

Mrs May has said the President was "wrong" to criticise Mr Khan.

"I think Sadiq Khan is doing a good job and it's wrong to say anything else - he's doing a good job," she said.

London's Mayor Suggests Cancelling President Trump's State Visit After His Criticisms on Twitter

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has suggested that U.S. President Donald Trump should not be welcomed to the U.K. because his policies are incompatible with British values, as a planned state visit approaches. The mayor's comments follow criticism from Trump on Twitter over Khan's response to a terror attack Saturday that left seven people dead in the British capital.

Speaking to Britain's Channel 4 News on Monday, Khan said the U.S. President was wrong about “many things.” According to the Guardian, he added that he doesn't think Trump should be welcomed to the country.

“I don’t think we should roll out the red carpet to the President of the U.S.A. in the circumstances where his policies go against everything we stand for,” he said.

President Trump criticized Khan on Sunday after the mayor told Londoners that an increased police presence on the streets was "no cause for alarm." Trump misleadingly suggested that Khan was downplaying the act of terrorism, which saw a van crash into pedestrians on London Bridge before three men exited the vehicle and attacked several people in nearby Borough Market.

After the mayor's office contextualized Khan's remarks, Trump went on the offensive again, tweeting on Monday that the explanation was a "pathetic excuse."

Read more: President Trump's Attack on London Mayor

Trump's attack on Khan has drawn sharp criticism not in the U.K. but also from American officials. The acting U.S. Ambassador in London, Lewis Lukens, issued a statement on Twitter offering praise and support for Khan: "I commend the strong leadership of the @MayorofLondon as he leads the city forward after this heinous attack," it read.

I commend the strong leadership of the @MayorofLondon as he leads the city forward after this heinous attack. – LLukens 3/3 https://t.co/p4dDZuCpyO- U.S. Embassy London (@USAinUK) June 4, 2017

The U.S. Conference of Mayors, which represents 1,400 communities across the country, also sent Khan an unequivocal message of support.

“[Khan] has risen above this crisis of death and destruction, as mayors continue to do, to alleviate fear, to bring comfort to his people of London and to give support to the first responders who continue to protect, defend and provide emergency care to his people of London," the statement read. “Thank you, Mayor Khan, for your leadership during this crisis."

Why Arab rivals have joined together to take on Qatar

It is a gulf Arab state that supports various Islamist groups - with critics saying it uses a TV channel as a tool of its foreign policy.

You could say that about a number of Arab countries, but it is Qatar that is being singled out for criticism and diplomatic ostracisation to a degree seldom seen before in the Arab world.

The reason? Qatar has long been out of line with the regional consensus and its neighbours believe this is the time to pull the small Gulf kingdom into line.

Other countries in the region may well support various Islamist militias in Syria.

Some sponsor TV channels perceived by many to have clearly biased agendas.

Saudi Arabia is accused of spending billions exporting a hardline form of Islam that its critics say leads to extremism.

But none of them share the sympathies and pet causes of Qatar.

:: Chaos in Qatar as Arab states cut travel links

Image:Al Jazeera's coverage has upset rival regimes

It has provided a base for the leadership of Palestinian militant organisation Hamas, an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood which has long been a thorn in the side of Egypt's military dictatorship.

It has good relations with Hezbollah to the fury of most other Sunni Arab nations because of the Lebanese Shia militia's close ties with Shia theocratic regional power Iran.

Qatar defends these relations with diverse groups because it says there is considerable support for them among ordinary people across the Arab world.

But that cuts no ice with the elites who rule them.

Qatar-based TV channel Al Jazeera has long been an irritant for the undemocratic elites who run that world.

It was a scapegoat during the Arab Spring uprisings, its staff often the victims of intimidation and worse by repressive regimes fighting for survival during those revolutions.

And regimes across the Middle East have for a long time sought to take revenge.

Qatar has been cast out before.

But this is more severe and likely to be longer lasting.

:: Oil price wobble amid Qatar diplomatic rift

Its regional rivals have found a common sense of purpose.

They are united in their fear of Iran and suspicion about Qatar's alleged ambivalence towards Tehran.

And they have been galvanised by US President Donald Trump's recent tour of the region.

Mr Trump challenged them to tackle extremists in their own backyards.

They have instead come down hard on a country they say is easy on extremists.

Previous administrations have taken a more nuanced, even-handed approach cultivating ties with as many countries as possible.

:: Investors watch Gulf diplomatic spat with unease

The Trump administration is being more blunt: stamp out extremism or else.

In that climate, Qatar's maverick foreign policy is more exposed.

Qatar has little leverage if the region remains united against it. The country houses a huge US military base, but it could be moved.

The diplomatic rupture is sending economic shockwaves across the region which will cause concern for all its governments - but Qatar is smaller and more vulnerable than its far richer, bigger neighbours and has more to fear from a protracted economic fallout.

It may choose to try and sit this one out as it has with previous moments of isolation, hoping the alliance ranged against it will begin to fracture, but it won't be able to for long.

UAE email leak: Yousef al-Otaiba criticises Trump

Emails taken from inbox of Yousef al-Otaiba earlier this week revealed Emirati ambassador played role in campaign to tarnish Qatar's image [Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo]

The latest round of leaked emails of the United Arab Emirates' ambassador to the US reveal repeated criticism by the diplomat of US President Donald Trump.

The Huffington Post, the US media outlet that received the latest series of emails, said they showed Yousef al-Otaiba denigrating Trump and others in communications with officials close to then-President Barack Obama.

The Huffington Post said one of the emails showed Otaiba corresponding with Rob Malley, Obama's chief adviser on the Middle East, on election night.

"You got room for me in Abu Dhabi?" Malley wrote to al-Otaiba.

"This isn't funny," the UAE ambassador responded. "How/why is this happen. On what planet can Trump be a president."

READ MORE: Hackers leak emails from UAE ambassador to US

In another exchange from 2016 with Judith Miller, a right-wing US commentator who reportedly sent Otaiba a series of tweets from a Saudi whistle-blower that criticised Emirati Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE diplomat said "the 7 minutes I spent reading this was the equivalent of watching 7 minutes of Donald Trump. A waste of my time."

The latest email leak comes after US media reported on Saturday that emails, released by a group called "GlobalLeaks", showed clear collaboration between Otaiba and a pro-Israel think-tank in an attempt to discredit Qatar.

Otaiba is a well-known figure in US national security circles - he has been called "the most charming man in Washington" - and has participated in Pentagon strategy meetings at the invitation of defence officials.

Al Jazeera's Shihab Rattansi said those behind the leak told Huffington post that "their intention is to reveal the 'two-faced nature' of Emirati foreign policy".

He added that "from these emails it would appear that the ambassador to Washington doesn't have a very high opinion of Trump".

READ MORE: All the latest updates on the Qatar diplomatic crisis

Huffington Post reporter Akbar Ahmed told Al Jazeera the emails "certainly shows a high level of UAE scepticism over Qatar".

Ahmed added that the emails also reveal that the "prime focus" of UAE officials in public "is Iran or the Muslim Brotherhood", but "it seems that a prime focus of these messages has been about neighbouring state Qatar".

He said this showed the UAE's "influence, their access and the kind of agenda they're pushing".

US and UAE officials have not commented on the recent leak.

On Monday, the UAE, along with Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, Yemen and the Maldives cut off diplomatic ties with Qatar, a move Qatar's foreign ministry called "unjustified" and "based on claims and allegations that have no basis in fact".

The dispute between Qatar and the Gulf's Arab countries escalated after a recent hack of Qatar's state-run news agency. It has spiralled since.

READ MORE - Qatar: Decision to cut ties violates our sovereignty

Following the hack, comments falsely attributed to Qatar's emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, were published.

Qatar's government categorically denied that the comments.

"There are international laws governing such crimes, especially the cyberattack. [The hackers] will be prosecuted according to the law," Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Qatar's foreign minister, said on Wednesday.

UAE-based Sky News Arabia and Al Arabiya kept running the discredited story, despite the Qatari denials.

US mayors back Sadiq Khan in Donald Trump Twitter row

US mayors have backed Sadiq Khan as he leads London in the aftermath of Saturday's terrorist attack while being criticised on Twitter by Donald Trump.

The US Conference of Mayors, which represents leaders of more than 1,400 cities, said it stood "united with Mayor Sadiq Khan of London and the people of London" following the attack.

They said of Mr Khan: "He has risen above this crisis of death and destruction, as mayors continue to do, to alleviate fear, to bring comfort to his people of London and to give support to the first responders who continue to protect, defend and provide emergency care to his people of London.

"Thank you, Mayor Khan, for your leadership during this crisis."

New York City's mayor Bill de Blasio had already made his feelings known on Twitter, writing: "Mayor Sadiq Khan is doing an extraordinary job supporting Londoners in a time of pain. President Trump's attack on him is unacceptable."

At least seven people were killed and dozens injured after three terrorists drove a van into pedestrians on London Bridge and then got out to stab people.

Image:Donald Trump wrote a number of ill-judged tweets after the London attack

In the hours after the attack, US President Mr Trump tweeted to his 31.6 million followers using it as a reason to push his travel ban on visitors and refugees from six mainly Muslim countries; offer support to London; call for the end of "political correctness"; bring guns into the debate and finally to twist Mr Khan's words and to criticise him.

Mr Khan's spokesperson had described the first round of presidential tweets as "ill-informed" - and said they had deliberately taken the mayor's remarks out of context.

Mr Trump hit back, however, tweeting: "Pathetic excuse by London Mayor Sadiq Khan who had to think fast on his "no reason to be alarmed" statement. MSM (mainstream media) is working hard to sell it!"

Staff of previous president Barack Obama were among those who tweeted their disgust.

Ben Rhodes, a former national security aide to Mr Obama, wrote: "To my friends in the UK: I apologise for this."

Jon Favreau, Mr Obama's top speech writer, wrote of Mr Trump's second Khan-related tweet: "This is the most disgusting lie and he is just an awful human being."

Lewis Lukens, the acting US ambassador to the UK (a permanent one has yet to be confirmed) tweeted: "I commend the strong leadership of the Mayor of London as he leads the city forward after this heinous attack."

Mr Trump's spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders, however, blamed the media for putting "spin" on the issue.

She said: "I don't see that the president is picking a fight with the mayor of London at all."

Melbourne shooting and siege may be terrorism

Police in Australia say they are treating a shooting and two-hour siege in Melbourne as terrorism after Islamic State said it had inspired the attack.

Yacqub Khayre, 29, killed a man in the foyer of an apartment block in the beach suburb of Brighton on Monday evening.

He then took an escort girl hostage, calling police to say he would hurt her if they intervened.

Police attempted to negotiate with Khayre before he came out of the building shooting at police.

They shot him dead.

The hostage escaped without injury but three police officers were injured in the shooting, although their wounds were not life-threatening.

Khayre, from Somalia, had made statements "around al Qaeda", also calling a local television station reportedly saying "This is for IS, this is for al Qaeda", police said.

Victoria Police chief commissioner Graham Ashton was sceptical of IS claims of responsibility, saying that the terrorist group "always tend to jump up and claim responsibility every time something happens".

He said: "We're not seeing anything indicating that he's got some message from overseas to do this at all but, again, early days.

"We've got material that's seized. We'll go through that and work it out."

Khayre was acquitted of plotting a terror attack at a Sydney army base in 2010, police said.

Khayre had also served jail sentences for arson and violent crimes which were not related to terrorism.

He was released on parole in November.

Australia's Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said he would speak with state leaders about changing state laws so that dangerous criminals were not released early on parole.

He said: "There have been too many cases of people on parole committing violent offences of this kind."

Australian authorities say they have prevented 12 attacks in the country since September 2014, charging more than 60 people with related crimes.