(FILES) This file photo taken on June 25, 2014 shows people walking past a banner bearing portraits of former emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani (R) and his son current leader Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani displayed at Souq Waqif in the Qatari capital Doha. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Egypt, Yemen and the Maldives on June 5, 2017 announced they were cutting ties with gas-rich Qatar over accusations it supported extremism. / AFP PHOTO / KARIM JAAFAR
A ban on Qatari flights imposed by Saudi Arabia and its allies took effect Tuesday as first efforts were made to resolve the biggest feud to hit the Arab world in years.
Saudi Arabia and allies including Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain cut diplomatic ties and transport links with Qatar on Monday, accusing the Gulf state of supporting extremism.
Gas-rich Qatar has long had strained ties with its neighbours but the move by Riyadh and its supporters shocked observers, raising fears the crisis could destabilise an already volatile region.
The Gulf states and Egypt banned all flights to and from Qatar and ordered Qatari citizens to leave within 14 days.
Countries including Saudi Arabia also banned Qatari flights from their airspace and Riyadh closed its land border with Qatar, sparking panic buying in Doha amid fears of food shortages.
The first concrete effects were being seen on Tuesday morning, with the flight ban causing delays and cancellations.
UAE carriers Emirates, Etihad, flydubai and Air Arabia, as well as Saudi Airlines had all announced the suspension of flights to and from Qatar as of Tuesday morning.
A total of 27 flights from Dubai to Doha had been scheduled for Tuesday and the Dubai Airports website showed all flights to Doha cancelled.
Qatar Airways, for its part, said it had suspended all flights to Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt “until further notice”.
Saudi Arabia also announced it was revoking Qatar Airways’ operating license.
– Eerily quiet airport –
Doha’s Hamad International Airport was virtually deserted early on Tuesday. More than 30 flights were shown cancelled on airport television screens and the departures hall was eerily quiet.
On Monday, shoppers had flooded Doha’s supermarkets worried that food imports would dry up.
In one store queues were up to 25-people deep as shoppers piled trollies high with supplies from rice to nappies.
“It’s a cycle of panic and I needed to get pasta,” said Ernest, a Lebanese national pushing two trollies.
Foreign powers including the United States, a key ally of Qatar, made urgent calls for talks to end the crisis.
In a first signal it was open to negotiations, Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani called late on Monday for “a dialogue of openness and honesty” to resolve the crisis.
“We believe any issue could be solved through discussion and mutual respect,” Sheikh Mohammed told Doha-based news channel Al-Jazeera.
– Mediation role for Kuwait –
He suggested Kuwait could play a role in mediating the crisis, saying that Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah had called his Qatari counterpart Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani on Monday.
Kuwait and Oman did not join fellow members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which also includes Qatar, in cutting ties with Doha.
Kuwait’s state-run news agency KUNA confirmed the phone call and said the Kuwaiti emir had also received a top Saudi envoy in an apparent mediation effort.
“Efforts aimed at containing tensions in the relations between brothers” were discussed in the phone call, KUNA said.
Turkey, which has good relations with Qatar and other Gulf states, also offered to help and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan late on Monday spoke to the emirs of Qatar and Kuwait and to Saudi King Salman.
The crisis will have wide-ranging consequences, not just for Qatar and its citizens but across the Middle East and for Western interests.
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