Qatar mimics the 'investment diplomacy' of rival Saudi Arabia

Washington

PRESIDENT Donald Trump may accuse Qatar of sponsoring terrorism but that did not stop the wealthy emirate from lighting up the Empire State Building in the national colours of the Middle Eastern nation last week.

Mr Trump - who once tried to acquire the Manhattan skyscraper - has sided with Saudi Arabia in its increasingly bitter dispute with Qatar, but Doha has adopted a tactic long used by its more powerful Saudi neighbour to get its own way, buying up substantial shares in the US economy as a bulwark against shifting political sands.

The iconic 102-storey Empire State Building was ba…