Amid a deepening rift between Gulf Arab nations, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain & Egypt on Monday cut ties with Qatar for 'destabilising security in region', alleging terror links, supporting ISIS and Al-Qaeda.
Saudi news agency SPA said Riyadh cut diplomatic ties and closed borders with its neighbour to "protect its national security from the dangers of terrorism and extremism".
A Saudi official cited by SPA said the country decided to 'sever diplomatic and consular ties with Qatar, and to close all land, sea and aviation ports'.
The 'decisive' measure was due to the 'gross violations committed by authorities in Qatar over the past years', the Saudi statement said.
Meanwhile, Russia Today reported that the Saudi-led coalition has announced that Qatar’s participation in its joint military operation in Yemen has been cancelled and accused Doha of supporting the Al-Qaeda and Islamic State terrorist groups.
Bahrain said it cut diplomatic relations with Qatar, accusing its fellow Gulf Arab state of backing terrorism and interfering in Bahrain's internal affairs.
A brief statement on the official Bahrain news agency said Bahrain, a close ally of Saudi Arabia, was also cutting air and sea contact with Qatar and was giving its citizens in Qatar 14 days to leave.
Egypt also cut ties accusing the Gulf Arab state of supporting 'terrorist' organisations including the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's state news agency reported.
The statement said all Egyptian ports and airports would be closed to Qatari vessels.
According to Al Arabiya, in a statement, Egypt said, “Qatar has promoted Al-Qaeda's ideology, and given support to ISIS and terrorist operations in the Sinai. Qatar 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 United Arab Emirates also cut ties and gave diplomats 48 hours to leave the country, citing their 'support, funding and embrace of terrorist, extremist and sectarian organisations', state news agency WAM said.
