years among some of the most powerful states in the Arab world.
Iran -- long
at odds with Saudi Arabia and a behind-the-scenes target of the move --
immediately blamed U.S. President Donald Trump for setting the stage during his
recent trip to Riyadh.
Gulf Arab
states and Egypt have already long resented Qatar's support for Islamists,
especially the Muslim Brotherhood which they regard as a dangerous political
enemy.
The
coordinated move, with Yemen and Libya's eastern-based government joining in
later, created a dramatic rift among the Arab nations, many of which are in
OPEC.
Announcing
the closure of transport ties with Qatar, the three Gulf states gave Qatari
visitors and residents two weeks to leave. Qatar was also expelled from the
Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen.
Oil giant
Saudi Arabia accused Qatar of backing militant groups -- some backed by
regional arch-rival Iran -- and broadcasting their ideology, an apparent
reference to Qatar's influential state-owned satellite channel al Jazeera.
"(Qatar)
embraces multiple terrorist and sectarian groups aimed at disturbing stability
in the region, including the Muslim Brotherhood, ISIS (Islamic State) and
al-Qaeda, and promotes the message and schemes of these groups through their
media constantly," Saudi state news agency SPA said.
It accused
Qatar of supporting what it described as Iranian-backed militants in its
restive and largely Shi'ite Muslim-populated Eastern region of Qatif and in
Bahrain.
Qatar said
it was facing a campaign aimed at weakening it, denying it was interfering in
the affairs of other countries.
"The
campaign of incitement is based on lies that had reached the level of complete
fabrications," the Qatari foreign ministry said in a statement.
Iran saw
America pulling the strings.
"What
is happening is the preliminary result of the sword dance," Hamid
Aboutalebi, deputy chief of staff of Iran's President Hassan Rouhani, tweeted
in a reference to Trump's recent visit to Saudi Arabia.
Trump and
other U.S. officials participated in a traditional sword dance during the trip
in which he called on Muslim countries to stand united against Islamist
extremists and singled out Iran as a key source of funding and support for
militant groups.
U.S.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told reporters in Sydney on Monday that the
spat would not effect the fight against Islamist militants and that Washington
has encouraged its Gulf allies to resolve their differences.
A split
between Doha and its closest allies can have repercussions around the Middle
East, where Gulf states have used their financial and political power to
influence events in Libya, Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
FALLOUT
The economic
fallout loomed immediately, as Abu Dhabi's state-owned Ethihad Airways, Dubai's
Emirates Airline and budget carrier Flydubai said they would suspend all
flights to and from Doha from Tuesday morning until further notice.
Qatar
Airways said on its official website it had suspended all flights to Saudi
Arabia.
Qatar's
stock market index sank 7.5 percent with some of the market's top blue chips
hardest hit.
The measures
are more severe than during a previous eight-month rift in 2014, when Saudi
Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE withdrew their ambassadors from Doha, again
alleging Qatari support for militant groups. At that time, travel links were
maintained and Qataris were not expelled.
The
diplomatic broadside threatens the international prestige of Qatar, which hosts
a large U.S. military base and is set to host the 2022 World Cup. It has for
years presented itself as a mediator and power broker for the region's many
disputes.
Kristian
Ulrichsen, a Gulf expert at the U.S-based Baker Institute, said if Qatar's land
borders and air space were closed for any length of time "it would wreak
havoc on the timeline and delivery" of the World Cup.
"It
seems that the Saudis and Emiratis feel emboldened by the alignment of their
regional interests - toward Iran and Islamism - with the Trump
administration," Ulrichsen said. "(They) have decided to deal with
Qatar's alternative approach on the assumption that they will have the (Trump)
administration's backing."
Qatar used
its media and political clout to support long-repressed Islamists during the
2011 pro-democracy "Arab Spring" uprisings in several Arab countries.
Muslim
Brotherhood groups allied to Doha are now mostly on the backfoot in the region,
especially after a 2013 military takeover in Egypt ousted the elected Islamist
president.
The former
army chief and now president, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, along with the new
government's allies in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, blacklist the Brotherhood as a
terrorist organization.
Egypt, the
Arab world's most populous nation, said on its state news agency that Qatar's
policy "threatens Arab national security and sows the seeds of strife and
division within Arab societies according to a deliberate plan aimed at the
unity and interests of the Arab nation."
Oil prices
rose after the moves against Qatar, which is the biggest supplier of liquefied
natural gas (LNG) and a major seller of condensate - a low-density liquid fuel
and refining product derived from natural gas.
REUTERS*
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