Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain yesterday severed their ties with Qatar, accusing it of supporting terrorism, opening up the worst rift in years among some of the most powerful states in the Arab world.
The coordinated move dramatically escalates a dispute over Qatar’s support of the Muslim Brotherhood and adds accusations that Doha even backs the agenda of regional arch-rival Iran.
Announcing the closure of transport ties with Qatar, the three Gulf states gave Qatari visitors and residents two weeks to leave their countries.
Photo: Reuters
Qatar was also expelled from a Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen.
Economic effects surfaced immediately, as Abu Dhabi’s state-owned Etihad Airways said it would suspend all flights to and from Doha from this morning until further notice.
Saudi Arabia accused Qatar of backing militant groups and broadcasting their ideology, in an apparent reference to Qatar’s influential state-owned satellite channel al-Jazeera.
“[Qatar] embraces multiple terrorist and sectarian groups aimed at disturbing stability in the region, including the Muslim Brotherhood, ISIS [the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria] and al-Qaeda, and promotes the message and schemes of these groups through their media constantly,” the Saudi Press Agency said.
The statement accused Qatar of supporting what it described as Iranian-backed militants in its restive and largely Shiite Muslim-populated eastern Saudi Arabian region of Qatif, and also in Bahrain.
The measures are more severe than during a previous eight-month rift in 2014, when Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE withdrew their ambassadors from Doha, again alleging Qatari support for militant groups. At that time, travel links were maintained and Qataris were not expelled.
A split between Doha and its closest allies can have repercussions around the Middle East, where Gulf states have used their financial and political power to influence events in Libya, Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
The diplomatic broadside threatens the international prestige of Qatar, which hosts a large US military base and is set to host the 2022 World Cup.
The announcements come 10 days after US President Donald Trump visited Riyadh to call on Muslim countries to stand united against Muslim extremists.
“It seems that the Saudis and Emiratis feel emboldened by the alignment of their regional interests — toward Iran and Islamism — with the Trump administration,” said Kristian Ulrichsen, a Gulf expert at the US-based Baker Institute.
“[They] have decided to deal with Qatar’s alternative approach on the assumption that they will have the [Trump] administration’s backing,” she said.
Qatar used its media and political clout to support hardline Muslim groups during the 2011 pro-democracy “Arab Spring” uprisings in several Arab countries.
Oil prices rose after the moves against Qatar, which is the biggest supplier of liquefied natural gas and a major seller of condensate — a low-density liquid fuel and refining product derived from natural gas.
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