In an unprecedented split between the Gulf Arab allies who have fallen out over political turmoil shaking the Middle East, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain withdrew their ambassadors from Qatar on Wednesday, Reuters reported.
Even though the decision made by Gulf Cooperation Council counterparts was voiced as "regret and surprise" by Qatar, they said Doha would not pull out its own envoys in response and that it remained committed to "the security and stability" of the GCC.
According to Reuters, the move escalated an internal power struggle over foreign policy in the GCC, which also includes Kuwait and Oman, and represents a significant challenge for Qatar's young ruler months after he took power.
Set up in the 1980s, the GCC, a pro-Western alliance, was a counterweight to Iranian influence in the Gulf, and includes several of the world's biggest oil and gas producers and exporters.
Qatar, a country of just 2 million, has made efforts to leverage its large wealth from gas exports into regional clout. Saudi Arabia, the biggest GCC state by population, size and economy, has grown increasingly frustrated over the years.
After Wednesday's announcement, Qatar's stock market tumbled 2.3 percent. There is significant cross-border investment in the stock markets of GCC countries by investors from other GCC nations; Saudi investors play a major role in all GCC markets.
"The statement follows two years of efforts by Saudi Arabia to build a closer union between the GCC countries on foreign and security policy in an effort to cement a united front against what it sees as Iranian aggression," Reuters reported.
"However, Gulf analysts and diplomats say it is too early to cast doubts on the ability of the GCC to hold together, pointing towards previous disagreements between member states that were later settled. Many GCC members have decades-old border disputes with each other, but efforts to resolve them are normally pursued without any apparent acrimony."
Qatar has been a maverick in the conservative region of royal dynasties, backing Islamist movements in Egypt, Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East that are viewed with suspicion or outright hostility by some fellow GCC members.
Egyptian airport sources said on Wednesday Qatari citizens would be subject to additional security screening measures "to make sure that they are not involved in hostile acts against Egypt, either through the media or business." Applying the principle of reciprocity, they said Qatari diplomats and special passport holders could not now enter Egypt without visas, Reuters reported.
The Saudi-UAE-Bahraini statement said GCC foreign ministers had met in Riyadh on Tuesday to try to persuade Qatar to implement the agreement.
"But unfortunately, these efforts did not result in Qatar's agreement to abide by these measures, which prompted the three countries to start what they saw as necessary, to protect their security and stability, by withdrawing their ambassadors from Qatar starting from today, March 5 2014," the statement said.
Qatar's foreign ministry said it would respond later, Reuters reported.
A Gulf diplomatic source said, "We expect Qatar to react to what just happened and withdraw from the policies and ideas that have isolated it as a country. As people we are very brotherly to one another and we don't want things to escalate."
