Saudi Arabia shuts Al Jazeera office amid row with Doha

The Saudi authorities on Monday closed the local office of Doha-based satellite news network Al Jazeera amid a severe diplomatic row between Qatar and several other Arab states.

“The Ministry of Culture and Information has closed the Al Jazeera channel’s office in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and withdrew its [broadcasting] license,” the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

The SPA said the decision had been taken after the network allegedly “promoted plots of terrorist groups, supported the Houthi militias in Yemen and tried to break Saudi internal ranks by inciting them to leave the country and harm the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia”.

On Monday, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Egypt and Yemen all abruptly announced their decision to sever diplomatic relations with Doha, citing “national security” concerns.