--- description: Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates issue a joint statement saying they are withdrawing their envoys from Qatar over its support for Islamist groups like Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, ramping up concerns that cooperation within the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council is failing title: Saudi Arabia, UAE and Bahrain Recall Envoys From Qatar in GCC Feud image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt96977a70ddfca246/698683e9d0b6f2853c30314c/qatar1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Qatar](/tag/qatar/) ## Qatar Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Saudi Arabia, U.A.E. and Bahrain Recall Envoys From Qatar by [Sam Frizell](/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 5, 2014 3:55 PM CUT  Qatari Foreign Minister Khalid bin Mohammed al-Attiyah arrives to attend the 130th meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in Riyadh on March 4, 2014. Qatari Foreign Minister Khalid bin Mohammed al-Attiyah arrives to attend the 130th meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in Riyadh on March 4, 2014.Fayez Nureldine—AFP/Getty Images by [Sam Frizell](/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 5, 2014 3:55 PM CUT Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain [withdrew](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-05/saudi-arabia-u-a-e-bahrain-withdraw-ambassadors-from-qatar.html "undefined") their envoys from Qatar over political differences, escalating concerns that cooperation within the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council is failing. The three oil exporters said in a joint statement they were removing their envoys “to protect security and stability,” Bloomberg reports. The decision follows a meeting in Riyadh yesterday which failed to persuade Qatar to stop supporting political opponents of the GCC, such as Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. Qatar sent billions of dollars of aid to Egypt during Mohamed Morsi’s presidency from 2012 to 2013, and has pledged hundreds of millions of dollars to Hamas. The tiny gulf nation is one of the richest nations in the world thanks to its oil reserves, and has been aiming for more regional influence for years. [(Magazine: Qatar Is Tiny and Rich, and it’s Angling for Influence)](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,2131552-1,00.html "undefined") Analysts said the tensions could have economic implications for the Gulf States, which supply about a fifth of the world’s crude oil and have a combined gross domestic product of $1.6 trillion. \[[Bloomberg](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-05/saudi-arabia-u-a-e-bahrain-withdraw-ambassadors-from-qatar.html "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/12755/saudi-arabia-uae-and-bahrain-recall-envoys-from-qatar/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/12755/saudi-arabia-uae-and-bahrain-recall-envoys-from-qatar/"},"headline":"Saudi Arabia, U.A.E. and Bahrain Recall Envoys From Qatar","datePublished":"2014-03-05T15:55:08.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T06:35:12.733Z","description":"Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates issue a joint statement saying they are withdrawing their envoys from Qatar over its support for Islamist groups like Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, ramping up concerns that cooperation within the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council is failing","url":"https://time.com/12755/saudi-arabia-uae-and-bahrain-recall-envoys-from-qatar/","keywords":["Qatar"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt96977a70ddfca246/698683e9d0b6f2853c30314c/qatar1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sam Frizell","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt96977a70ddfca246/698683e9d0b6f2853c30314c/qatar1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"SAUDI-GCC-POLITICS-MEETING","caption":"SAUDI-GCC-POLITICS-MEETING","creditText":"Fayez Nureldine—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/qatar/","name":"Qatar"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/12755/saudi-arabia-uae-and-bahrain-recall-envoys-from-qatar/","name":"Saudi Arabia, U.A.E. and Bahrain Recall Envoys From Qatar"}}]}] ```