Qatar recalls ambassador from Egypt over Libya strikes: Qatari state media

Qatar recalls ambassador from Egypt over Libya strikes: Qatari state media

DOHA - Qatar recalled its ambassador to Egypt Thursday "for consultation" following a row over Cairo's air strikes on jihadist targets in Libya, Qatari state media said.

A foreign ministry official said Doha was recalling its envoy over a statement made by Egypt's delegate to the Arab League Tariq Adel, according to the QNA state news agency.

Adel accused Qatar of supporting terrorism, according to Egyptian media and the Al-Jazeera news channel, after Doha's representative expressed reservations over a clause in a communique welcoming Cairo's air strikes on Islamic State targets.

The communique was released at the end of an ambassador-level Arab League meeting in the Egyptian capital.

Egyptian F-16s bombed militant bases in the eastern city of Derna on Tuesday, after the Islamic State group in Libya released a gruesome video showing the beheadings of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians who were in the North African country seeking work when they were captured by the group.

In a separate release, Qatar's foreign ministry said Doha had expressed reservations over welcoming the raids, stressing the need for "consultations before any unilateral military action against another member state." It denounced the "tense" statement by Egypt's representative to the Arab League, saying it "confuses the need to combat terrorism (with)... the brutal killing and burning of civilians." 

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