RIYADH, 30 September — Saudi Arabia yesterday decided to recall its ambassador in Qatar for consultation, the official Saudi Press Agency announced yesterday. Saudi Ambassador to Doha, Hamad Al-Toaimi, told AFP agency that he was awaiting an official call from the government.
The Saudi decision reflects the deteriorating political relations between the two Gulf neighbors, especially after the Doha-based Al-Jazeera allowed Saudi dissidents to speak out against Saudi leaders and policies. There was no official response to Al-Jazeera’s program “Al-Ittijah Al-Muakes” on June 25 in which participants criticized Saudi-initiated Middle East peace proposal.
But Saudi newspapers blasted the private television channel for causing trouble between the two GCC countries.
The papers also lambasted the tiny Gulf emirate for continuing its political and commercial relations with Israel after Arab and Islamic countries called for cutting those ties.
Saudi Arabia and Qatar signed a border agreement last year, ending a long-standing dispute, which a decade ago led to armed clashes between them.
Qatar, a peninsula off the eastern coast of Saudi Arabia, has the world’s third largest gas reserves, while Saudi Arabia is the world’s top oil producer.
