BFF-37 Qatar emir quits Arab summit early: state media

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Qatar emir quits Arab summit early: state media

TUNIS, March 31, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Qatar’s emir has left an Arab League summit in Tunisia early, the Gulf state’s official QNA news agency said Sunday, without giving details on why.

Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani quit the meeting “after attending the opening ceremony”, it said, with no further details.

A Tunisian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Qatari leader had walked out during the speech of League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit, and “has left Tunisia”.

Qatar is at the centre of a bitter Gulf standoff since June 2017, when Saudi Arabia along with the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain severed ties with Doha.

The Saudi-led bloc accuses Doha of supporting extremist groups and being too close to Iran, charges Qatar denies.

BSS/AFP/MMA/2040HRS