Qatar expels Yemen ambassador

Qatar expelled Yemeni officials working at the country’s embassy from its capital, Doha, yesterday reported Al Masdar.

Diplomats at the Yemeni Embassy have been given 48 hours to leave the country.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut diplomatic and transport ties with Qatar on 5 June, accusing it of supporting terrorism and forming an alliance with Iran, all of which Doha categorically denies. Yemen’s internationally recognised government, headed by President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, has backed the siege.

#QatarGate

In March 2015, Qatar joined a Saudi-led coalition in Yemen aimed at restoring power to Hadi after Houthi fighters, allied with forces loyal for former President Ali Abdullah Saleh overran the country’s capital Sana’a. Riyadh expelled Qatar from the coalition on 5 June.

Read: Who’s fighting the war in Yemen?

Image of a Yemeni man holding a child as he desperately searches for survivors after Saudi airstrikes hit Yemen on 11 March 2017 [RanaHarbi/ /Twitter]