By Derek Davison Early Monday morning, five Arab states —Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen—along with the Maldives , broke all diplomatic and physical ties with the Persian Gulf emirate of Qatar. All six countries say they are withdrawing their diplomats from Qatar within 48 hours and expect Qatari diplomats to reciprocate within the same time frame, and other Qatari nationals in those countries have two weeks to leave. Those countries have also cut all land, sea, and air contact with Qatar—meaning, among other things, that Qatar’s land border with Saudi Arabia is now closed, airlines from those six countries will no longer fly into Qatar, and Qatar Airways flights have been barred from their airspace. In its official statement explaining this move, Riyadh noted Qatar’s “grave violations” against Saudi Arabia and Bahrain: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has taken this decisive decision as a result of grave violations being com...
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