The six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) had not fully recovered from last November's disagreement between Saudi Arabia and Oman when it was hit by a deeper rift involving Qatar.
The latest diplomatic spat pits Saudi
Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain against Qatar over
its support for the Muslim Brotherhood, a group labeled a "terrorist
organisation" by Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
On March 5, the trio announced the
withdrawal of their ambassadors from Qatar, accusing it of breaching the
organisation's security agreement and violating its principles of
"unified destiny", according to a joint statement issued by the official Saudi news agency.
They also accused Qatar of failing to
commit to promises it had made to not interfere in the internal affairs
of its fellow GCC states, not to support organisations and individuals
jeopardising their security and stability, and not to harbour "hostile
media", referring to Qatar-based Al Jazeera Media Network.
On Tuesday, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal was quoted as saying that the diplomatic crisis will persist "as long as Doha does not revise its policy".
"This is by far the biggest crisis we've encountered as a council," said a Kuwaiti official who asked not to be named.
Will the GCC survive Qatar-Saudi rivalry? - Features - Al Jazeera English
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