France’s Macron visits Qatar amid Arab boycott of Doha

French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Qatar Thursday for a one-day trip amid a boycott of Doha by four Arab nations. Macron traveled to the Al-Udeid Air Base, home to 10,000 US troops and the forward headquarters of the US military’s Central Command. France has a contingent of soldiers at the base, seen as crucial to the ongoing fight against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) in Iraq and Syria, and to the war in Afghanistan. The president’s visit follows a planned two-day Gulf Cooperation Council meeting, which collapsed in just a few hours over the ongoing Qatar diplomatic crisis, AP reports.