Dubai: Qatar must chose either to continue to maintain its traditional and historic links with its GCC allies and friends or to be totally isolated. It also has to stop seeking to interfere in the internal affairs of other GCC states, a senior GCC diplomatic source told Gulf News.

GCC governments have been aware of Qatar’s position for some time, but a wider public also came to know the dangers of Qatar’s position when former Qatari Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, Shaikh Hamad Bin Jasim Bin Hamad Al Thani, was recorded describing the Saudi government as an “old regime, with old rulers, that must end in 20 years time.”

He was recorded by the security service of the former Libyan dictator, Muammar Gaddafi, and the tapes were leaked in 2011 and are widely available on social media. The tapes also make clear that Qatar was also planning riots and disturbances in Saudi Arabia.

The rift with Qatar has already impacted US President Barack Obama’s visit to Riyadh on 28 March when he was due to meet all the six GCC heads of state, but in the present situation the Saudis will not invite the GCC rulers, and therefore will represent the six states on their own.

The diplomatic source told Gulf News that the GCC members insist that Qatar takes certain specific actions, which include stopping backing the Al Houthi rebels in Yemen, stopping backing the Muslim Brotherhood, and closing particular academies that support radical action.

He continued by pointing out that Saudi Arabia had tolerated the wayward Qatari position for more than 17 years, but the tolerance recently changed to anger after Qatar persisted in supporting interference in other GCC states, and in February also refused to sign a GCC document prohibiting member states from interference in each other’s internal affairs.

The recent withdrawal of ambassadors from Qatar by Saudi Arabia and Bahrain was totally based on Qatar’s continued interference in GCC states, and had nothing to do with its support for the former Egyptian president, Mohammad Mursi, and his Muslim Brotherhood party.

“When Qatar refused to sign the document, it found itself isolated. This is harmful for both the Qatari government and also its people,” Gulf News was told.