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Six Arab nations have cut diplomatic ties to Qatar, further deepening the rift between Gulf Arab nations over that country's support for Islamist groups.
Key points:
- Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates to withdraw diplomatic staff from Qatar
- Nations also plan to cut air and sea traffic to Qatar
- Saudi Arabian troops to be pulled from its ongoing war in Yemen
Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates all announced they would withdraw their diplomatic staff from Qatar, a gas-rich nation that will host the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Following suit, one of Libya's three rival governments has announced cutting diplomatic relations with Qatar, and Yemen's Government has cut relations with the country.
Saudi Arabia said it took the decision to cut diplomatic ties due to Qatar's "embrace of various terrorist and sectarian groups aimed at destabilising the region" including the Muslim Brotherhood, Al Qaeda, the Islamic State (IS) group and groups supported by Iran in the kingdom's restive eastern province of Qatif.
Egypt's Foreign Ministry accused Qatar of taking an "antagonist approach" toward Egypt and said "all attempts to stop it from supporting terrorist groups failed".
The tiny island nation of Bahrain blamed Qatar's "media incitement, support for armed terrorist activities, and funding linked to Iranian groups to carry out sabotage and spreading chaos in Bahrain" for its decision.
But Qatar said in a statement that there was "no legitimate justification" for Arab nations to cut diplomatic ties.
It said the decision was a "violation of its sovereignty" and vowed that it would not impact its citizens.
Qatar long has faced criticism from its Arab neighbours over its support of Islamists.
The chief worry among them is the Muslim Brotherhood, a Sunni Islamist political group outlawed by both Saudi Arabia and the UAE as it challenges the nations' hereditary rule.
The decision comes after Qatar alleged in late May that hackers took over the site of its state-run news agency and published what it called fake comments from its ruling emir about Iran and Israel.
Its Gulf Arab neighbours responded with anger, blocking Qatari-based media, including the Doha-based satellite news network Al-Jazeera.
What will be affected?
Saudi Arabia said Qatari troops would be pulled from its ongoing war in Yemen.
All the nations also said they planned to cut air and sea traffic to the peninsular country.
Qatar is also home to the sprawling al-Udeid air base, which is home to the US military's Central Command and some 10,000 American troops.
It was not clear if the decision would affect American military operations.
Central Command officials and the Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
But in Sydney, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said he did not believe the diplomatic crisis would affect the war against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.
"I think what we're witnessing is a growing list of disbelief in the countries for some time, and they've bubbled up to take action in order to have those differences addressed," Mr Tillerson said.
"We certainly would encourage the parties to sit down together and address these differences."
Arab airlines cancel flights to Qatar
Qatar Airways, one of the region's major long-haul carriers, said on its official website that it had suspended all flights to Saudi Arabia.
It came after a number of airlines cancelled flights to Qatar following the diplomatic rift.
Dubai-based airline Emirates said it was suspending flights to Qatar until further notice starting Tuesday (local time).
Budget carrier FlyDubai also said it would be cancelling its flights to Qatar from Tuesday.
Abu Dhabi-based airline Etihad said it was also suspending flights to Qatar, noting on its website that its last flights would leave early Tuesday morning.
Etihad gave no reason for the decision. It is the flag carrier of the United Arab Emirates.
Has this ever happened before?
In 2014, Gulf countries led by Saudi Arabia fell out with Qatar over its backing of then-Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi, a Brotherhood member.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain recalled their ambassadors from Qatar over the rift.
Eight months later, they returned their ambassadors as Qatar forced some Brotherhood members to leave the country and quieted others.
However, the 2014 crisis did not see a land and sea blockade as threatened now.
In the time since, Qatar has repeatedly and strongly denied it funds extremist groups.
However, it remains a key financial patron of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and has been the home of exiled Hamas official Khaled Mashaal since 2012.
AP
Topics: terrorism, unrest-conflict-and-war, government-and-politics, qatar, saudi-arabia, bahrain, egypt
First posted