Egypt, Libya and 4 others sever diplomatic ties with Qatar

Four gulf countries as well as Egypt cut off all ties with Qatar, for supporting extremist groups.

There are rising concerns on what happening between Qatar and its neighbours. Reports indicate that Libya’s eastern government also followed suit by severing ties. The main UN-backed government in Tripoli has yet to comment on the development.

Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen and Egypt announced at the same time that they are cutting ties with Qatar.

Air, land, sea and even diplomatic ties are broken. Emirates, Etihad and FlyDubai Airways have suspended their flights to Qatar until further notice.

The countries have given no details but accuse Doha of destabilizing the region by supporting terrorist groups. Accusations which Qatar blankly rejected .

The tension has been on for some time. In 2014 three Gulf countries withdrew their ambassadors from Qatar.

The United Arab Emirates described relations with Qatar as bad influence, thus rising existing tensions within the gulf region.

AFP