Qatar said Wednesday it had withdrawn 450 of its peacekeepers from the border area between Eritrea and Djibouti, suspending its role as a mediator between the two Horn of Africa countries.<\/p>\n
Qatar\u2019s official news agency QNA, citing a source at the Foreign Ministry, reported that the Gulf emirate had informed Djibouti of the decision.<\/p>\n
It did not give an explanation.<\/p>\n
The move comes days after Eritrea cut off diplomatic ties with Qatar, following the example of Gulf countries that accused Doha of supporting terrorism, a charge that Doha has repeatedly denied.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe state of Qatar has been an impartial diplomatic mediator in resolving crises and disputes between brotherly and friendly countries and will continue to be a major player in the international community,\u201d the unnamed source at the Qatari Foreign Ministry said.<\/p>\n
Earlier Wednesday, Araya Desta, Eritrea\u2019s ambassador to the African Union and the UN Economic Commission for Africa, confirmed that Eritrea had broken off diplomatic relations with Qatar.<\/p>\n
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, as well as a number of African countries, have also severed ties and transportation with Qatar, isolating the tiny energy-rich country.<\/p>\n
Qatar arbitrated a 2010 agreement between Eritrea and Djibouti following a 2008 territorial dispute.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t want any confrontation with Djibouti. We don\u2019t want to take any of Djibouti\u2019s land,\u201d Desta told dpa.<\/p>\n
Nasredin Ali, from the Ethiopian-based Eritrean opposition group Red Sea Afar Democratic Organization, said Eritrean troops have now taken control of a mountainous border crossing area that Qatar had patrolled since 2008.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Qatari troops are now set to leave the country through the port of Djibouti,\u201d Ali told dpa, putting the number of troops at 450.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Qatar said Wednesday it had withdrawn 450 of its peacekeepers from the border area between Eritrea and Djibouti, suspending its role as a mediator between the two Horn of Africa countries. Qatar\u2019s official news agency QNA, citing a source at the Foreign Ministry, reported that the Gulf emirate had informed Djibouti of the decision. It […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":152,"featured_media":65736,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,2],"tags":[37288,10028,12015,37289,10689],"yoast_head":"\n