Saudi
Gazette
June 5, 2017
Riyadh — Saudi
Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Egypt, Yemen, Libya and Maldives severed ties with
Qatar on Monday morning after the tiny Gulf nation was found supporting terror
groups and Iran.
According to the
Saudi Press Agency, Saudi Arabia has taken this decision as a result of
“serious and systematic violations committed by the authorities in Doha over
the past years with the aim of creating strife among Saudi internal ranks,
undermining its sovereignty and embracing various terrorist and sectarian
groups aimed at destabilizing the region.”
Among the extremist
groups Saudi Arabia said Qatar was supporting and harboring were the Muslim
Brotherhood, Daesh and Al-Qaeda, by means incitement through its media
channels.
“Qatar has also
supported the activities of the Iranian-backed terrorist groups in the Qatif
province of Saudi Arabia and in neighboring Kingdom of Bahrain. It has also
financed, adopted and is harboring extremists who seek to destabilize unity at
home and abroad. It has used the media that seeks to fan internal strife. Saudi
Arabia has also been made aware that authorities in Doha have supported Houthi
militias even after the declaration of the coalition to support the legitimate
government in Yemen,” the statement added.
UAE
In a statement, the
UAE announced its full support for the Saudi stance toward Qatar, saying the
Gulf state has threatened stability and security in the region, and has
manipulated and shirked responsibilities and agreements made with other Gulf
states.
The UAE has given Qatar’s
diplomatic mission in Abu Dhabi 48 hours to leave the country after what it
said where “Doha’s several policies which destabilizes the security and
stability of the region and manipulates commitments”.
It also warned
Qatari citizens they had 14 days to leave the UAE. Citizens from Qatar have
also been banned from “even passing through the UAE”.
A statement on UAE’s
official news agency WAM’s twitter account said “Emiratis are now banned from
visiting or even passing by Qatar at all means”.
Bahrain
Bahrain decided to
sever ties with its neighbor “on the insistence of the State of Qatar to
continue destabilizing the security and stability of the Kingdom of Bahrain and
to intervene in its affairs”.
A statement also
said Qatar’s incitement of the media and supporting of terrorist activities and
financing groups linked to Iran were reasons behind the decision.
“(Qatar has) spread
chaos in Bahrain in flagrant violation of all agreements and covenants and
principles of international law Without regard to values, law or morals or
consideration of the principles of good neighborliness or commitment to the
constants of Gulf relations and the denial of all previous commitments,” the
statement read.
Qatari citizens have
14 days to leave Bahraini territories while Qatari diplomats were given 48
hours to leave the country after being expelled. Meanwhile, Bahrain has also
banned all of its citizens from visiting or residing in Qatar after the
severance of ties.
“The dangerous
Qatari practices have not been confined to the Kingdom of Bahrain, but have
also been extended to sister countries that have been informed that such acts
reflect a very dangerous pattern which cannot be ignored or accepted and must
be addressed with full strength and firmness,” a statement added.
Egypt
A statement to come
out from Egypt indicates that one of the reasons was the Qatari government’s
support of the Muslim Brotherhood, which Cairo has designated a terrorist
group.
“Qatar’s has
promoted Al-Qaeda’s ideology, and given support to ISIS (Daesh) and terrorist
operations in the Sinai. Qatar’s has insisted on interfering in the internal
affairs of Egypt and the countries of the region in a manner that threatens
Arab national security and promotes the seeds of sedition and division within
the Arab societies,” the statement read.
Egypt’s foreign
ministry said it has given the Qatari ambassador in Cairo 48 hours to leave the
country and ordered its own envoy in Doha to return home, also within two days.
Yemen
Yemen’s government
said Qatar was working with its enemies of the Iran-aligned Houthi militia,
state news agency Saba reported.
“Qatar’s practices
of dealing with the (Houthi) coup militias and supporting extremist groups
became clear,” the government said in a statement.
It added that Yemen
supported a decision by a Saudi-led coalition fighting for more than two years
to oust the Houthis from the capital Sanaa to remove Qatar from its ranks.
Libya
Libya’s eastern-based
government has followed regional allies in cutting diplomatic ties with Qatar,
its foreign minister, Mohamed Dayri, said on Monday.
Maldives
The Maldives said on
Monday it was severing diplomatic ties with Qatar.
“The Maldives took
the decision because of its firm opposition to activities that encourage
terrorism and extremism,” the government of the tiny Indian Ocean archipelago
nation said in a statement. — Agencies