06 June, 2017
The rift between Qatar and the other Gulf countries had taken a turn after the former's state-run news agency was hacked. Qatar and Bahrain, involved on the front lines on rival fronts in the diplomatic and political crisis in the Gulf, host the main USA air and naval bases in the region. By GCR Staff0 CommentsThe diplomatic row unfolding in the Gulf states could "wreak havoc" on the build programme for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, an expert has warned.
Saudi Arabia, Egypt and several Arab nations have ended diplomatic relations with their Gulf neighbor, Qatar.
Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates began withdrawing their diplomatic staff from Qatar and regional airlines announced they would suspend service to its capital, Doha. Nevertheless, they immediately sent ripples through the Sunni-majority region and further stoked tensions.
The state news agency in Saudi Arabia made an announcement that the pull out of diplomats and a formal cut-off of ties with Qatar is being done with a view to preserving the nation's security from extremism and terrorism.
Riyadh also accused Doha of supporting Iran-backed "terrorist activities" in Saudi Arabia's Shia-dominated area of Qatif, as well as in Bahrain, both of which have seen Shia unrest in recent years.
The Saudi official source said: "In accordance with the decision to sever diplomatic and consular relations, Saudi citizens are prohibited from traveling to Qatar, residing in or passing through it. Visitors and those residing in Qatar have to leave its territories within 14 days. We will honour our long-term contracts with Qatar and expect it to keep supplies on as we can not compromise our national energy security", said a government official. The Qatar Stock Exchange fell more than 7 percent. Saudi Arabia announced that all land air and sea links would be closed and airlines, including Emirates and Etihad, have suspended flights. Customers affected by the decision are being offered a refund.
"So the closing of air and land crossing has implications for the food supply chain", he added. Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation (Gaca) said on Monday it has banned all Qatari private and commercial aeroplanes from landing in the kingdom's airports.
Egypt says it took the decision "in light of the continued insistence of the Qatari government to take a stance against Egypt". The common denominator of these articles was their call on the USA government to reconsider its relations with Qatar and move its military air base from Al Udeid to another Gulf country.
"This is a continuation of a longstanding disagreement between Qatar and, primarily, the UAE and Saudi Arabia over Qatar's support for groups that the others consider as threats to regional stability and security", Feierstein said.
Dana Shell Smith, the US ambassador to Qatar, also shared messages on Twitter that she and her embassy's account originally wrote in October 2016 expressing USA support for Qatari efforts to combat terrorist financing. Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said after a Cabinet meeting that the government hopes Erdogan's initiative will help overcome tensions, although he provided no details. The most high-profile of those projects is the construction of venues and related infrastructure for the World Cup in five years' time. It did not elaborate.
The move will likely have major implications in oil markets, as Qatar is the biggest producer of liquefied natural gas in the Gulf.
Qatar denounced the coordinated action as a violation of its sovereignty and a fabrication of "baseless allegations".
Qatar has denied any involvement in funding 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.
