Arab nations sever ties with Qatar

Riyadh, June 5

Arab nations, including Saudi Arabia and Egypt, today cut ties with Qatar, accusing it of supporting extremism, in the biggest diplomatic crisis to hit the region in years.

Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen and the Maldives joined Saudi Arabia and Egypt in severing relations with gas-rich Qatar, with Riyadh accusing Doha of supporting groups, including some backed by Iran, “that aim to destabilise the region”.

Qatar reacted with fury, denying any support for extremists and accusing its Gulf neighbours of seeking to put the country under “guardianship”.

The crisis was likely to have wide-ranging consequences, not just for Qatar and its citizens but around the Middle East and for Western interests.

Qatar hosts the largest US airbase in the region, which is crucial to operations against Islamic State group jihadists, and is set to host the 2022 football World Cup.

Today’s announcement came less than a month after US President Donald Trump visited Saudi Arabia to cement ties with Riyadh and called for a united front among Muslim countries against extremism.

It also followed weeks of rising tensions between Doha and its neighbours, including Qatari accusations of a concerted media campaign against it and the alleged hacking of the Qatar News Agency. The Gulf states and Egypt said they were severing diplomatic ties and closing transport links with Qatar, which relies on imports from its neighbours.

The Gulf states banned their citizens from travelling to Qatar and ordered Qatari citizens to leave within 14 days. Saudi Arabia also closed its borders with Qatar, effectively blocking food and other supplies exported by land to Qatar.

Local media in Qatar reported there was already some panic buying as people stock up on food.

The Qatar Stock Exchange tumbled eight percent on opening and eventually closed down 7.58 percent.

Riyadh said in a statement its measures were the result of “gross violations committed by authorities in Qatar”, accusing Doha of harbouring “terrorist and sectarian groups that aim to destabilise the region including the Muslim Brotherhood, Daesh (IS) and Al-Qaeda”.

Gulf states have for years accused Qatar of supporting extremist groups, in particular the Muslim Brotherhood, the world’s oldest Islamist organisation.

Riyadh also accused Doha of supporting Iran-backed “terrorist activities” in Saudi Arabia’s Shiite-dominated area of Qatif, as well as in Bahrain, both of which have seen Shiite unrest in recent years.

Any suggestion that Qatar is backing the agenda of Shiite-dominated Iran — Sunni Saudi Arabia’s regional arch- rival — is especially sensitive, particularly in the wake of Trump’s comments last month.

Qatar has consistently denied any support for extremists or Iran and did so again after today’s move by its neighbours. — AFP 

Address differences, stay united: Tillerson 

Sydney: US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (in pic) today called on Gulf states to stay united and work out their differences after several nations cut diplomatic ties with Qatar. "We certainly would encourage the parties to sit down together and address these differences," he said in Sydney. "If there's any role that we can play in terms of helping them address those, we think it is important that the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) remain united." In the region's most serious diplomatic crisis in years, Qatar's Gulf neighbours Riyadh, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates as well as Egypt all announced they were severing ties with gas-rich Qatar. Riyadh cut diplomatic relations and closed borders with its neighbour to "protect its national security from the dangers of terrorism and extremism", the official Saudi Press Agency said. A Saudi-led coalition which for more than two years has been fighting Iran-backed rebels in Yemen separately announced Qatar was no longer welcome in the alliance, accusing it of supporting terrorist organisations. Qatar had assigned warplanes to the coalition conducting air strikes against Yemen's Huthi rebels. AFP

Qatar carrier stops flights to Saudi Arabia

Qatar Airways said on its official website on Monday that it had suspended all flights to Saudi Arabia. The move came after Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE and Bahrain severed their ties with Qatar on Monday, accusing it of supporting terrorism. Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways also said it would suspend flights to Qatar after the United Arab Emirates was among major Gulf states to sever ties with Doha in an unprecedented regional crisis. Agencies

Doha denounces ‘unjustified’ cut 

Qatar today slammed the decisions of three Gulf states and Egypt to sever ties with it, saying they were “unjustified” and aimed to put Doha under political “guardianship”. “The measures are unjustified and are based on false and baseless claims,” the Qatari foreign ministry said in a statement, referring to the unprecedented steps taken by Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt. “The aim is clear, and it is to impose guardianship on the state. This by itself is a violation of its (Qatar’s) sovereignty as a state,” it added. AFP

India won't be affected, says Swaraj

New Delhi: India will not be impacted by some Gulf countries cutting off diplomatic ties with Qatar, Foreign Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Monday. "There is no challenge arising out of this for us. This is an internal matter of GCC (Gulf Coordination Council). Our only concern is about Indians there. We are trying to find out if any Indians are stuck there," she told reporters. Meanwhile, Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday sought the Centre's intervention to ensure safety of 6.5 lakh Indians, including Keralites, residing in Qatar following recent developments in the Middle East. In letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Vijayan said he was writing the letter in the context of the developing geo-political situation in the Middle East today. "As you are aware millions of Indians are working in countries in the Middle East, the geo-political developments in the region have raised deep concerns among the people in the state," he said. Agencies