Jeddah: Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, Maldives, and Yemen have severed diplomatic ties with Qatar on Monday.
Bahrain had earlier announced that it was cutting all ties with Qatar. Following Saudi Arabia’s decision, the United Arab Emirates has also announced it is severing all ties with Qatar. Joining these three Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, Egypt, Yemen, Libya, and Maldives too decided to cut all diplomatic relations with Qatar.
The three GCC states announced plans to cut air and sea traffic to the peninsular country. The unprecedented measures against Doha include ordering Qatari citizens to leave within 14 days and banning citizens of the three Gulf States from traveling to Qatar.
In a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), Saudi Arabia said Qatari troops would be pulled from the ongoing war in Yemen. Qatar is part of the Arab Coalition backing the UN-recognized government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi in its war with Houthis and their allies.
SPA reported that Saudi Arabia has taken this “crucial action as a result of serious violations by the authorities in Doha, privately and publicly.”
Qatar on Monday slammed the decisions of the nations to sever ties with it, saying they were ‘unjustified.’
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 wasn’t clear if the decision would affect American military operations.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told reporters in Sydney on Monday that the spat would not affect the fight against extremist militants and that Washington has encouraged its Gulf allies to resolve their differences.
AG/IINA
