05 June, 2017
Qatar has slammed the decision of five nations, including United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia and Egypt's, to sever diplomatic ties with the country, calling it "unjustified".
Qatar hosts the largest USA airbase in the region, which is crucial to operations against Islamic State group jihadists.
The UAE said in a statement it was cutting off all ties with Qatar.
After Saudi Arabia closed their airspace for Qatar Airways, the airline was forced to cancel all flights from Doha to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia also accuses Qatar of backing Shia militants in Bahrain, having links with the Nusra Front, an al-Qaeda affiliate, as well as the Muslim Brotherhood and alleges it "promotes the message and schemes of these groups through their media constantly".
Maldives President Yameen Abdul Gayoom also participated in last month's Arab-Islamic-American summit in Saudi Arabia.
Bahrain is home to the US Fifth Fleet and is a key ally of the US.
FIFA issued a short statement Monday saying it spoke with "the Qatar 2022 Local Organizing Committee and the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy handling matters relating to the 2022 FIFA World Cup".
Saudi Arabia was a longtime supporter of Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak before his overthrow in 2011.
Economic consequences were already emerging, with UAE carriers Emirates, Etihad, flydubai and Air Arabia, as well as Saudi Airlines, announcing the suspension of all flights to and from Qatar as of Tuesday morning.
The United States uses bases in several of the countries to launch air operations against the Islamic State extremist group, and has its headquarters for the air war at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
Cavusoglu said: "We are saddened by the existing picture".
The Saudi Press agency said that "the Kingdom has made a decision to sever diplomatic and consular relations with the State of Qatar".
DUBAI/RIYADH, June 5 Banks in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have not received any regulatory guidelines about their dealings with Qatari lenders despite the rift in diplomatic ties, sources familiar with the matter said.
But Qatar's foreign ministry insisted there was "no legitimate justification" for the decision, and said it was a "violation of its sovereignty".
"The campaign of incitement is based on lies that had reached the level of complete fabrications", the Qatari foreign ministry said.
Qatari officials said the closures would not affect the "normal course of life of its citizens and residents".
The countries all ordered their citizens out of Qatar and gave Qataris overseas 14 days to return home to their peninsular nation.
The stories quoted him questioning USA hostility towards Iran, speaking of "tensions" between Doha and Washington and speculating that Trump might not remain in power for long.
"Iran is rejoicing in the fact that the divisions in Qatar and the GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council] allies are diverting attention from the region's geopolitical and security priority; which is confronting Iran's military adventurism and expanding influence in the Middle East", Rafizadeh wrote. The chief worry among them is the Muslim Brotherhood, a Sunni Islamist political group opposed to monarchical rule.
It is overwhelmingly Sunni, and Wahhabi - or Salafi as it's also known - branch of Sunni Islam is the official state-sponsored religion.
It has been criticized for supporting rebel groups fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and Qatari individuals have been sanctioned by the US Treasury for terrorist-funding activities.
However, the recent media rift wasn't the only escalation of tensions between Qatar and its neighbors.
The Afghan Taliban opened an office in Doha in 2013. "It also opened the Qatari market for Iranian investments".
