ARAB NATIONS CUT QATAR TIES.

Support for Iran, terror groups cited for move

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES • Saudi Arabia and other Arab powers severed diplomatic ties Monday with Qatar and moved to isolate the energy-rich nation that is home to a major U.S. military base, accusing it of supporting terrorist groups and backing Iran.

The decision plunged Qatar into chaos and ignited the biggest diplomatic crisis in the Gulf since the 1991 war against Iraq.

Qatar, home to about 10,000 U.S. troops and the host of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, criticized the move as a “violation of its sovereignty.” It described the crisis as being fuelled by “absolute fabrications” stemming from a recent hack of its state-run news agency.

Saudi Arabia closed its land border with Qatar, through which the tiny nation imports most of its food, sparking a run on shops.

Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates began withdrawing their diplomatic staff from Qatar and regional airlines announced they would suspend service to its capital, Doha. Yemen’s internationally backed government, which no longer holds its capital and large portions of the war-torn country, also cut relations with Qatar, as did the Maldives and one of conflict-ridden Libya’s competing governments.

Saudi Arabia said the decision to cut diplomatic ties was due to Qatar’s “embrace of various terrorist and sectarian groups aimed at destabilizing the region,” including the Muslim Brotherhood, al-Qaida, ISIL and militants supported by Iran in the kingdom’s restive Eastern Province.

Qatar is the site of the alUdeid Air Base, home to the forward headquarters of the U.S. military’s Central Command. Maj. Adrian J.T. Rankine-Galloway said the U.S. military had “no plans to change our posture in Qatar.”

The crisis began in late May when Qatar alleged that hackers took over the site of its state-run news agency and published what it called fake comments from its ruling emir about Iran and Israel. Its Gulf Arab neighbours responded by blocking Qatari-based media, including Al-Jazeera.

Qatar long has faced criticism from its Arab neighbours over its support of Islamists. The chief worry among them is the Muslim Brotherhood, a Sunni Islamist political group.

In March 2014, Saudi Arabia, the U.A.E. and Bahrain recalled their ambassadors from Qatar over that rift. Eight months later, they returned their ambassadors as Qatar forced some Brotherhood members to leave.

Qatar denies funding extremist groups. However, it remains a key patron of the Islamic Hamas movement.