Qatar crisis: recent developments

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and several other Sunni-majority countries have severed relations with Qatar since June 5, accusing the Gulf state of supporting terrorism based on its ties with the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas and the Taliban.

Another point of departure is Qatar's ties with Iran, with whom it shares one of the world's biggest gas fields.

Qatar has denied the accusations and called the collective decision "unjustified." Kuwait, Turkey and the US have all urged a political solution as the bloc isolates Qatar using various ad hoc sanctions, including shutting down their airspace to Qataris and blocking import routes.

The dispute began in May when Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani was reported to have made statements on the state news agency supporting Iran. Doha said the statements were fabricated and disseminated via a hack.

Here are the latest developments in the crisis:

June 29, Thursday

Qatar to raise GCC dispute at WTO

Qatar will raise its dispute with four other Arab states at the World Trade Organization on Friday.

The row has not yet been raised at the WTO, where Qatar and its allies in the Gulf Cooperation Council, which includes Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE, have appeared to work together as usual.

In the WTO agenda, Qatar merely said it wanted to discuss "trade restrictive measures by certain members".

Qatar dismisses Gulf demands but says open for dialogue

Qatar is ready to discuss "legitimate issues" with Arab states to end a regional crisis, but it said a list presented by them last week contained some demands that were impossible to be met because they were not true.

Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said on Thursday that Doha was interested in negotiating legitimate issues concerning fellow Gulf states, but said some of the demands were not reasonable.

Qatar defence minister to visit Turkey

Qatar's defence minister is due to visit Ankara on Friday and will hold talks with his Turkish counterpart, sources at Turkey's defence ministry said on Thursday.

Turkey has backed Doha in its rift with four Arab states, which are boycotting the emirate over alleged support for terrorism, in what has become the worst Gulf Arab crisis in years.

For more on yesterday's developments click here.