Qatar Shuts Down Chadian Embassy, Gives Diplomats 72 Hours to Leave

Qatar is closing the embassy of Chad in its capital of Doha and gives its diplomats three days to leave the country, the Qatari Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday, a day after Chad's decision to shutter the Qatari embassy.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Wednesday, the Chadian Foreign Ministry said that the African country was closing the embassy of Qatar in N'Djamena and requested the departure of the ambassador and diplomatic staff within 10 days over Doha’s alleged attempt to destabilize the country through neighboring Libya.

"Director of the Information Office at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, HE Ambassador Ahmed bin Saeed Al Rumaihi, voiced Qatar's rejection of the allegations contained in the statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Chad saying that they are baseless… He the Ambassador also announced the State of Qatar's decision to close the Embassy of the Republic of Chad in Doha and to give diplomats and embassy staff 72 hours to leave the country," the statement read.

The statement specified, citing Al Rumaihi, that the timing of Chad's decision to close the Qatari embassy "clearly reveals that this decision comes within the campaign of political blackmail against the State of Qatar with the intention of joining the siege countries for very well known reasons."

In June, Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates cut diplomatic ties with Qatar, accusing Doha of supporting terrorist organizations and destabilizing the situation in the Middle East. Several other countries followed suit. The Qatari Foreign Ministry rejected the accusations of Doha's interference in other countries' domestic affairs.

Kuwait, acting as a mediator in the crisis, handed over the four Arab states' ultimatum containing several demands to Doha. However, Qatar refused to comply with the demands.