Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt and Bahrain add Qatar-linked people, entities to terror list amid tensions

Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (C, front) poses for a photo next to US President Donald Trump and other countries' leaders during the Arab-Islamic-American Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, May 21, 2017. (Photos by AFP)

The four Arab states which recently severed relations with Qatar over its alleged support for terrorism have added the names of dozens of people and entities with alleged links to Qatar to a list of terrorists.

On Friday, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt and Bahrain issued a statement that lists 59 people and 12 entities as terrorists.

The statement, which is expected to intensify the ongoing dispute among the Persian Gulf kingdoms, includes the name of Muslim Brotherhood spiritual leader Yousef al-Qaradawi and Qatari-funded charities Qatar Charity and Eid Charity.

The move follows a 2014 listing of several organizations by Saudi Arabia and the UAE during a previous dispute with Qatar.

The four Arab states announced the list despite Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah's mediatory efforts aimed at resolving the dispute.

Emir of Kuwait Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah (L), Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani (C) and Oman's Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi attend a summit on December 7, 2016, in the Bahraini capital Manama.

The statement mentions the names of 18 Qatari nationals as terrorists, including a number of alleged terrorism financiers as well as prominent businessmen, politicians and senior members of the royal family, including a former interior minister.

The list also includes the names of 26 Egyptian nationals, five Libyans, three Kuwaitis, two Jordanians, two Bahrainis, an Emirati, a Saudi and a Yemeni.

Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates broke off relations with Qatar on Monday, accusing Doha of supporting terrorism and destabilizing the region. They also suspended all land, air and sea traffic with Qatar, ejected its diplomats and ordered Qatari citizens to leave their countries.

A few other small countries followed suit to cut or downgrade their diplomatic relations with Doha.

As tensions between Doha and Riyadh show no sign of easing, Qatar's pan-Arab broadcaster Al Jazeera said on Thursday it had come under a large-scale cyber attack on "all systems.”

Earlier on Thursday, Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said Qatar had never experienced such hostility, even from an enemy.

Asked about the impact of the measures against Qatar, he underscored that Qatar could survive "forever,” saying, "We are not ready to surrender, and will never be ready to surrender, the independence of our foreign policy.”

Elsewhere in his remarks, Sheikh Mohammed emphasized that his country was not worried about food stocks, adding Iran had expressed its readiness to help Doha secure food supplies and to designate three of its ports to Qatar.