Qatar-Gulf crisis: All the latest updates

The latest news after Arab Gulf countries cut diplomatic ties with Qatar and suspended Doha-bound flights.

 

The latest developments since four Arab countries cut ties with Qatar on Monday morning. (All times local.)

To jump to the first update on Saturday, click here

6:24pm – German FM warns Gulf crisis could lead to war

The dispute between Qatar and other Arab states could lead to war, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel told a newspaper on Saturday, adding that he still saw a chance to defuse the tension.

• “There is a danger that this dispute could lead to war,” Gabriel told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, citing what he called a “dramatic” harshness in relations between allied and neighbouring countries in the Gulf.
• The minister said personal talks this week with his counterparts from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey, and phone calls with the foreign ministers of Iran and Kuwait underscored his concerns.
• “After my talks this week, I know how serious the situation is, but I believe there are also good chances to make progress.”

4:13pm – Turkey: Qatar military base for the security of entire Gulf region

Turkey’s military base in Qatar is aimed at contributing to the security of the entire Gulf region and not aimed at a specific Gulf state, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Saturday.

• In a joint news conference with Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Khalid bin Al Khalifa, Cavusoglu said Turkey would continue its efforts to resolve the Gulf dispute.
• Cavusoglu also said that Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told the Bahraini foreign minister that the dispute between Qatar and other Arab states should be resolved by the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

3:30pm – Qatar Petroleum says business as usual despite diplomatic rift

Qatar Petroleum (QP) said on Saturday that it was conducting “business as usual” throughout its upstream, midstream and downstream operations, despite rising diplomatic tensions with its Gulf neighbours.

• QP was prepared to take any “necessary decisions and measures, should the need arise, to ensure that it honored commitments to customers and partners”, the statement said.
• Qatar is the world’s biggest liquefied natural gas (LNG) producer and accounts for more than 30 percent of global trade.

3:22pm – Egypt’s Sisi praises Trump’s stance on Qatar

Egypt President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has praised US President Donald Trump for his role in “the formation of a united front to combat terrorism”.

• Sisi’s praise-filled phone call Saturday came after Trump echoed accusations made against Qatar by a Saudi-led group that cut diplomatic ties with Qatar earlier this week.

• Sisi thanked Trump for his participation in a counterterrorism summit in Riyadh last May, in which he vowed to “fight terrorism in partnership with Middle East leaders”.

2:17pm – Niger recalls ambassador to Doha

• Niger announced it had recalled its ambassador to Qatar following the latest developments in the Gulf.
• The foreign ministry issued a statement expressing “its solidarity” with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and their allies, which on Monday severed diplomatic with Doha, accusing it of supporting “extremists” – a charge strongly denied by Qatar.

1:05pm – Qatari FM in Moscow for talks with Russian counterpart

• After holding talks in Germany on Friday, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Qatar’s foreign minister, met with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, in Moscow.
• The two diplomats are not expected to hold a press conference after the talks, but spoke briefly in front of cameras at the start of their meeting.
• Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said only dialogue will resolve the dispute, adding that “the Gulf Cooperation Council is the right platform to achieve this”.
• For his part, Lavrov also called for talks to end the crisis. “We call for all contradictions to be resolved at the negotiation table through a mutually respectful dialogue,” the Russian foreign minister said, adding that Arab states should unite to effectively fight “terrorism”.
• “As a matter of policy we do not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries or their bilateral relations with each other. But it does not give us joy when relations between our partners deteriorate,” Lavrov said.
• “The position of Russia and the moment seems to be ‘yes, we’ll listen to you but we don’t want to take sides,'” Al Jazeera’s Rory Challands, reporting from Moscow.

11:33am – Saudi Arabia welcomes Trump’s remarks, does not respond to Tillerson call

• With the US administration sending mixed signals in regards to its stance to the crisis, Saudi Arabia, via a statement on its state media, welcomed US President Donald Trump’s call on Qatar and other countries to increase their efforts against “terrorism”, but did not respond to a state department request to ease pressure on its neighbour.
• Just minutes before Trump’s speech on Friday, Rex Tillerson, the US secretary of state, had urged Saudi Arabia and its allies to ease their blockade on Qatar, saying it is causing unintended humanitarian consequences and affecting the US-led fight against ISIL.
• Tillerson also said that Qatar has a history of supporting groups across a wide political spectrum, including those that engage in violence, and that the emir of Qatar had made progress in halting financial support for “terrorism” but that he must do more.
• A separate report on Saudi’s state-run news agency SPA acknowledged Tillerson’s call for Qatar to curtail support for “terrorism”, but did not mention his remarks that the crisis was hurting ordinary Qataris, impairing business activities and harming the fight against ISIL.

10:50am – Qatar row ‘no impact’ on global oil pact

• Khalid al-Falih, Saudi Arabia’s energy minister, said the decision by the kingdom and some of its allies to severe ties with Qatar this week would not affect a pact by global oil producers to reduce output.
• “I don’t expect the diplomatic and political issues that have surfaced with Qatar to have any impact whatsoever on the oil production agreement,” Falih told reporters in Kazakhstan.

6:58am – Merkel calls for regional cooperation

• German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed her concern about the situation in Qatar, saying that all Gulf countries, and also Iran and Turkey, should work together to end the regional crisis.
• “We have to see that the political solution of conflicts … such as the situation in Syria, such as the situation in Libya or the situation in Iraq, won’t happen if certain players are no longer even included in the conversation, and that includes Qatar, it includes Turkey, it includes Iran,” said Merkel, speaking alongside Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto during a visit to Mexico City.
• Merkel said she wanted the balance of power to be maintained “sensibly” in the region, and that security would be on the agenda when G20 leaders meet next month in the German city of Hamburg.

4:20am – Saturday, June 10 – Eritrea rejects severing Qatar ties

• Eritrea declined a request by Saudi Arabia and the UAE to cut diplomatic ties with Qatar.
• The African nation’s foreign ministry said in a statement it “rejected” the demand to cut ties “with brother Doha”.
• It said Eritrea had “strong ties with the brother people of Qatar”, and it was “impossible to cut ties”.

11:30pm – Erdogan says Turkey won’t leave Qatar isolated

• Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reaffirmed his backing for Qatar in its dispute with other Gulf nations, saying Turkey would never leave the country isolated.
• Delivering a speech at a Ramadan fast-breaking dinner in Istanbul, Erdogan said on Friday that Turkey would provide food and medicine to help Qatar ease its isolation despite the other nations “displeasure”.
• He called on Saudi Arabia and other countries of the region to end their sanctions, rejecting accusations by these countries that Qatar supports “terror groups”.
• Referring to a statement by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson calling on the Arab nations to immediately ease their blockade of Qatar, Erdogan said: “I say let’s lift it entirely”.
• On Wednesday, Turkey’s parliament passed legislation permitting the deployment of troops to a Turkish military base in Qatar.

11:15pm – Amnesty condemns actions taken against Qatar

• Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are toying with the lives of thousands of Gulf residents as part of their dispute with Qatar, splitting up families and destroying peoples’ livelihoods and education, Amnesty International said on Friday.
• The organisation’s researchers have interviewed dozens of people whose human rights have been affected by a series of sweeping measures imposed in an arbitrary manner by the three Gulf countries in their dispute with Qatar.
• “These drastic measures are already having a brutal effect, splitting children from parents and husbands from wives. People from across the region – not only from Qatar, but also from the states implementing these measures – risk losing jobs and having their education disrupted. All the states involved in this dispute must ensure their actions do not lead to human rights violations,” said James Lynch, Deputy Director of Amnesty International’s Global Issues Programme, who was in Doha last week.

Read the full statement here

10:45pm – Rights committee present reports on effects of the blockade

• Qatar’s National Human Rights Committee presented 300 international and regional organizations with detailed reports that reveal the humanitarian conditions of the citizens of GCC countries as a result of the blockade in Qatar.

10:00pm – Trump accuses Qatar of ‘funding terrorism

• US President Donald Trump accuses Qatar of “funding terrorism” at “very high level” when speaking at the White House on Friday, where he was holding a joint news conference with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis.

Read the full story here

9:40 – Blockade ‘hindering’ planning for long-term operation – Pentagon

• A blockade against Qatar by Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states was not affecting current operations against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group, but was “hindering” the ability to plan for long-term operations, the Pentagon said on Friday.
• “While current operations from Al Udeid Air Base have not been interrupted or curtailed, the evolving situation is hindering our ability to plan for longer-term military operations,” Captain Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, said in a statement.
• Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar is home to more than 11,000 US and coalition forces and an important base for the fight against ISIL. He did not explain how exactly it was affecting planning for longer-term operations.
• Davis said Qatar remained critical for air operations against ISIL.

9:30 – Trump, Egypt’s Sisi discuss Arab unity, fighting terrorism

• US President Donald Trump spoke on Friday with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and emphasised the importance of maintaining unity among Arab countries, the White House said in a statement.
• It was the fourth call Trump has had with a regional leader since Gulf allies severed diplomatic ties with Qatar on Monday.

8:40pm – US secretary of state makes statement on Gulf diplomatic crisis

• Rex Tillerson calls on Saudi Arabia, Egypt and UAE to ease the blockade against Qatar.

• Tillerson says US urges no further escalation in Gulf crisis with Qatar.
• Tillerson: Blockade hindering US military action against ISIL.
• US expectation is that Gulf countries would immediately take steps to de-escalate situation in region – Tillerson
• Read the full story here

4:30 – UN’s response to the ‘terror list’

• The United Nations (UN) said it is bound only by the list of sanctions adopted by the organs of the United Nations and the Security Council.
• This came in UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric response to a question about the list, made by Saudi Arabia, Egypt, UAE and Bahrain, of so the called “terrorist organizations and entities” featuring the name of Qatar Charity.
• Dujarric said that the UN has signed significant work with Qatar Charity in Yemen , Iraq and Syria and said that they are coordinating the aid work together.
• The spokesman said that in principle, the UN relies solely on the list of sanctions adopted by the UN Security Council, and the UN is not obliged to take into account any lists other than that.

Read the full story here 

4:20pm – UAE Central Bank asks banks to adopt ‘terror list’

• UAE banks and other financial institutions have been instructed to search for and freeze any accounts or deposits or investments held by individuals or entities that are in the “terror list” issued by Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain and Egypt late on Thursday.
• In another circular, the Central Bank advised banks and other financial institutions operating in the UAE to apply enhanced customer due diligence for any accounts they hold belonging to six Qatari banks.
• A bank press statement said the two circulars were issued based upon a UAE cabinet resolution designating 59 individuals and 12 entities as “terrorists or terrorist organisations”.

2:15pm – Saudi Arabia bans Al Jazeera channels in hotels

• The Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage issued a circular in the early hours of Friday, ordering all “tourist facilities” to remove satellite channels that include religious, political or moral violations, including the Al Jazeera Media Network.
• The circular read: “All tourist facilities must commit to choosing the appropriate TV channels in line with the official Saudi TV channels … and not to operate channels deviant to the Islamic religion or the state’s policies, or morals.”
• It added: “The authority ensures the importance of removing all the ‘Al Jazeera channels’ from the list of available channels in rooms and other tourism accommodation facilities in order to prevent anyone who violates this circular from facing penalties, which could amount to 100,000 Saudi riyals ($26,600) or the revocation of their license, or both.”

1:28pm – Germany calls for end to Qatar blockade

• German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel called for an end to the land, sea and air blockade imposed by Arab countries on Qatar after a meeting with Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Wolfenbuettel, Germany.
• Gabriel also called for increased diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis.
• “We are convinced that now is the hour of diplomacy and we must talk to each other,” he told reporters
• “Along with our American colleagues but above all our colleagues in the region, we must try to find solutions, especially lifting the sea and air blockades,” he said.

12:15pm – Saudi-led bloc list ‘arbitrary’

• The UK-based Arab Organisation for Human Rights (AOHR) called the Saudi bloc’s list “arbitrary”, saying it “was clearly made up arbitrarily, to serve political agendas, without relying on any evidence or an impartial judicial authority”.
• AOHR also said: “The exact legal definition and crime of ‘terrorism’ needs to be determined by a neutral judicial authority, which is not available in these countries [Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, and Bahrain].”
• The independent group also warned that the list violated clear laws against defamation, as the reputation of individuals and charitable organisations is put at risk.

11:45am – Qatar FM calls blockade ‘violation of international law’ 

• Qatar’s Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on Friday said the blockade of his country is a violation of international law.
• “These procedures that were taken have clear violations of international law and international humanitarian law. They will not have a positive impact on the region but a negative one,” he said during a joint press conference with his German counterpart during a visit to Germany.

11:30am – Qatar rejects Saudi-led bloc’s ‘terror’ list 

• Qatar on Friday rejected allegations of supporting individuals and groups blacklisted as “terrorists” by a bloc of Arab neighbours that has imposed an economic blockade on it amid a major diplomatic fallout.
• The Qatari government said the list of 59 people and 12 groups, with ties to Qatar, “reinforces allegations that hold no foundation”.

10:15am – Five days on, five things to know about the Qatar-Gulf rift

• Despite mediation efforts led by Kuwait, the standoff continues five days into the dispute between Saudi and its allies, and Qatar. We look at some of the key points of the ongoing rift.
• Economic blockade: Along with the severing of diplomatic ties, a Riyadh-led blockade was imposed against Doha. Saudi, which shares the only land border with Qatar, shut the crossing and halted transport of goods into its gas-rich neighbour. Saudi, UAE and Bahrain also close their airspace to flights from and to Qatar. Qatari citizens were ordered out of the three countries and sea links were cut.
• Turkey sending troops: Following the threats made against Qatar, its close ally Turkey voted to to accelerate the deployment of troops to its base in the peninsula.
• Media attacks: As accusations heated up, Saudi signalled that it was escalating the row in the media sphere – first by shutting down the local office of the Doha-based Al Jazeera Media Network. Days before the diplomatic spat boiled over, Al Jazeera’s websites were already blocked in Saudi, UAE, Bahrain and Egypt.
• Trump’s tweets: In the first hours of the diplomatic scuffle, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said it is important that the GCC members remain “unified”. Tillerson’s assurances, however, were thrown in doubt after US President Donald Trump wrote a post on social media referencing Qatar when he said leaders of the Middle East had stated that they “would take a hard line on funding extremism”. He later made a phone call to Qatar’s leader to offer help in resolving the crisis. Instead of diffusing the already heated situation, Trump’s tweets only led to more discord.
• ‘Terror list’: On Thursday evening, a joint action by Saudi, UAE, Bahrain and Egypt placed 59 individuals and 12 organisations on a “terror list”. It includes the Muslim Brotherhood spiritual leader Yousuf al-Qaradawi and 18 prominent Qataris. On Friday, Qatar dismissed the list as “baseless” allegations that “hold no foundation in fact”.
• Read the full story here.

7:15am – UAE minister calls Qatar to ‘change course’

• Anwar Gargash, minister of state affairs for the United Arab Emirates accused Qatar of escalating the crisis by seeking help from Turkey and Iran.
• “The request for political protection from two non-Arab countries and military protection from one of them could be a new tragic and comic chapter,” he wrote on Twitter late on Thursday.
• Gargash also called Qatar to “change its course” and “abandon its stubbornness”.

5:30am – US senators push for strategy amid crisis

• “We’ve got to be concerned about putting our thumb too heavily on one side of the scale when we are dealing with people in the region we want to maintain a relationship with,” Senator Bob Corker, the Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told Al Jazeera.

1:20am – Arab nations add Qatar residents, charities to ‘terrorism’ lists

• Four Arab countries that cut ties with Qatar designated dozens of people with alleged links to Doha as “terrorists”, intensifying a row that threatens the region’s stability.

• Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Bahrain said in a statement published by the Saudi state news agency that 59 people – including Muslim Brotherhood spiritual leader Yousuf al-Qaradawi – and 12 entities, among them Qatari-funded charities, were named on the “terrorism” list.

01:10am – Qatar urges citizens to take high-road on social media

• Qatar’s communications office issued a statement urging citizens and residents to mind “Islamic and Arab values” on social media during the standoff with Gulf neighbours.

• “Based on the principles of our true Islamic religion, our humanitarian values and our authentic Qatari culture, we call on all those who live on this good land to rise and continue to avoid responding similarly to the abuses that spread in various means of mass communication. We also call upon you to show more responsibility, of which you are well known, and not to insult countries, their leaders or peoples,” the statement said.

00:55am – UN chief wades into Qatar-Gulf dispute

• UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says he is ready to support diplomatic efforts to resolve tensions between Qatar and other Gulf Arab states “if desired by all parties”. Guterres’ spokesman said in a statement the secretary-general urged countries in the region to avoid an escalation, adding he is following the situation with “deep concern”.

00:41am – Friday, June 9 – Turkey’s president ratifies Qatar military deals

• Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan late on Thursday ratified two deals on deploying Turkish troops in Qatar and training the country’s military, according to the Turkish leader’s office. The deal on sending soldiers was signed in April in Doha. “The move aims to contribute to regional and world peace,” Anadolu news agency quoted the Turkish presidency as saying.

10pm – Saudi FM holds talks in Oman

• Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir has travelled to Oman’s capital Muscat to hold talks with Omani officials, according to Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya television.
• No details have emerged about their discussions.

8:30pm – UAE forecasts ‘new tragic and comic chapter’ in Gulf row

• Anwar Gargash, the foreign minister of the United Arab Emirates, has said on Twitter that Qatar is seeking help from Turkey and Iran for dealing with the diplomatic rift in the Gulf and it could bring “new tragic and comic chapter” in the crisis.
• “The great escalation from the confusing and confused brother country and the request for political protection from two non-Arab countries and military protection from one of them could be a new tragic and comic chapter.”

7:15pm – Shell diverts US LNG cargo to Dubai after Gulf rift

• Royal Dutch Shell has sent a replacement cargo of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States to Dubai, shipping data shows, after a diplomatic row disrupted typical trade routes from Qatar.
• Shell has a deal to supply the Dubai Supply Authority (DUSUP) with LNG which it typically sources from Qatar because of its proximity.
• But bans on Qatari vessels entering ports in the United Arab Emirates, imposed after top Arab powers severed diplomatic and transport links with Qatar on Monday, meant it had to source the LNG from elsewhere.
• The Maran Gas Amphipolis tanker, carrying around 163,500 cubic metres of LNG produced in the US, was initially headed toward Kuwait’s port of Mina Al-Ahmadi but made a U-turn on Wednesday to head for Dubai’s port of Jebel Ali.
• The tanker is currently unloading at DUSUP’s floating import terminal at Jebel Ali, data showed.

7pm – Two Qatari LNG ships change course

• Two Qatari liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers have changed course in the Gulf of Aden away from their expected destination of Britain, according to shipping intelligence firm Kpler and shipping data.
• The Al Mafyar tanker, carrying about 262,000 cubic metres of LNG from Qatar, is no longer heading towards the Suez Canal, shipping data shows. Its new destination is unknown.
• The Zarga tanker, with a capacity of 262,000 cubic metres, executed a U-turn and appears to be heading back in the direction from which it came, shipping data shows.

6pm – Sudan says it will not take sides in Gulf rift

• Sudan has said it will not take sides in the diplomatic crisis in the Gulf amid calls from Sudanese legislators to back Qatar.
• Responding to questions from lawmakers on Wednesday, Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour said he expected Gulf Arab states to overcome the crisis given the “strong relations and blood ties” between them.
• Sudan also offered to mediate to defuse tensions, according to its state news agency.

5pm – Qatar’s FM: ‘We are not ready to surrender’

• Qatar’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani has said the Gulf rift is threatening the stability of the entire region.
• He also said diplomacy was still Doha’s preferred option and there would never be a military solution to the problem.
• Qatar had never experienced this type of hostility, even from an enemy country, he said.
• “No one has the right to intervene in our foreign policy.”
• “We are not ready to surrender, and will never be ready to surrender, the independence of our foreign policy.”
• He also said the Emir of Qatar would not travel to Washington for GCC crisis talks suggested by US President Donald Trump because he did not want to leave his country while it is “in blockade”.

3:45pm – Chad recalls its ambassador from Qatar

• Chad has recalled its ambassador from Qatar with the country’s foreign ministry calling involved in the Gulf diplomatic crisis to use dialogue to resolve the dispute.

2pm – Bahrain bans showing sympathy to Qatar

• Bahrain is warning the island’s media outlets not to “publish or circulate anything that condones or justifies Qatari policies by any means”.
• Bahrain’s Information Affairs Ministry said on Thursday that those who do publish material sympathetic to Qatar “will be held responsible”.
• “Any expression of sympathy with the government of Qatar or opposition to the measures taken by the government of Bahrain, whether through social media, Twitter or any other form of communication, is a criminal offence punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine,” the ministry statement said.

1:50pm – UAE blocks access to Qatar Airways website

• The United Arab Emirates has blocked access to the website of Qatar Airways. It began on Thursday and follows the UAE blocking access to a series of Qatari media websites, including those of Al Jazeera media network.

1:25pm – Bahrain FM demands Doha shun Iran

• Bahrain has reiterated on Thursday a demand that Qatar distance itself from Iran and stop support for “terrorist” groups. “Qatar has to redress its path and has to go back to all previous commitments, it has to stop media campaigns and has to distance itself from our number one enemy, Iran,” Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed al-Khalifa told Saudi-owned Asharq al-Awsat newspaper. “It has to realise its interests are with us, not with another country that conspires against us, wants to dominate and divide us. It has to stop supporting terrorist organisations, Sunni or Shia, and its policy has to be for the benefit of its people.”

12:32pm – Pakistan to continue LNG imports from Qatar

• Pakistan’s government says it will continue to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar under a 15-year $1bn deal signed last year.
• Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Pakistan’s federal minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources, said since no sanctions have been imposed on Qatar by the UN, Islamabad and Doha were bound to abide by the agreement.