By Ryan
Browne, CNN
Updated 5:37 PM ET, Fri December 22, 2017
The Pentagon announced Friday that Boeing had been
awarded a $6 billion contract to sell 36 F-15 fighter jets to Qatar.
The aircraft will be manufactured at a Boeing plant in
St. Louis, Missouri and are expected to be delivered to Qatar by the end of
2022.
"This contract provides for the foreign military
sales requirement to procure 36 new F-15QA aircraft for the Qatar Emiri Air
Force," the Pentagon said in a statement.
The contract's announcement is likely to be welcomed by
the Qatari government and comes amid an ongoing diplomatic row between Qatar
and a number of its Gulf neighbors, including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the
United Arab Emirates.
The countries accuse Qatar of supporting terrorism, a
charge Doha denies.
President Donald Trump initially appeared to back Saudi
Arabia in the dispute, saying in June that "the nation of Qatar
unfortunately, has historically been a funder of terrorism at a very high level."
However, Trump appeared to change course just days later,
offering to help the parties resolve their differences during a call with the
Qatari emir.
"If I can help mediate between Qatar and in
particular, the UAE and Saudi Arabia, I would be willing to do so," Trump
said in September while appearing alongside the emir of Kuwait.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson traveled to the region
in July in an attempt to mediate the dispute between the US allies but was
unable to achieve a rapprochement.
Speaking about the diplomatic row while in Washington
last month, Qatar's foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani,
said Trump "wants to see an end for this," and praised Qatar's
relationship with the US.
The US military maintains a significant presence in
Qatar, using the Al Udeid Air Base to oversee air operations in the region,
including the air campaigns against ISIS and the Taliban.
Original post: cnn.com
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