Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Egypt, Yemen, Libya, Mauritania, Mauritius andthe Maldives have cut ties with Qatar over its ‘support of terrorism’. Qatar responded to the accusations as “unjustified”. “The measures are unjustified and are based on claims and allegations that have no basis in fact,” said Qatar’s Foreign Ministry in a statement to Al Jazeera. Egypt’s Foreign Ministry has released a statement, setting a 48-hour deadline for the Qatari ambassador to leave. The Egyptian ambassador to Qatar was given the same period to return to Egypt to implement the decision. There are about 300,000 Egyptian citizens living in Qatar, their fate remains unknown. According to Reuters, the four countries have accused Qatar of destabilizing the region and supporting terrorist organisations such as the Muslim Brotherhood. Egyptian state media reports that the Egyptian government has shut down its airspace and ports for all Qatari modes of transportation. Similarly, Saudi Arabia’s state media reports all Saudi borders, including land, sea, and air, have been shut down to Qatar to protect Saudi Arabia’s national interest. The Saudi-led Arab coalition fighting Houthi rebels in Yemen also expelled Qatar from its alliance…
