Egypt, Qatar trade barbs in dispute over Libya strikes

By Ahmed Tolba

CAIRO (Reuters) - A senior Egyptian diplomat on Thursday accused Qatar of supporting terrorism after Qatar recalled its ambassador from Cairo in a dispute over Egyptian air strikes on Islamic State targets in Libya.

Egyptian jets bombed sites in Libya on Monday hours in response to the beheading of 21 Egyptian Christians by Islamic State militants there.

The Arab League expressed its "complete understanding" over the Egyptian action and threw its weight behind Cairo's call for a lifting of the arms embargo on the Libyan army.

But at a subsequent Arab League meeting, Qatar expressed reservations over the attack.

The state news agency QNA had said earlier that Qatar had recalled its ambassador to Egypt, reviving a diplomatic row following a recent improvement in relations.

Qatari foreign ministry official Saad bin Ali al-Muhannadi told the meeting his government had misgivings on unilateral military action on another member that could harm innocent civilians. It would also give an advantage to one side in Libya's conflict, he said.

The Qatari reservations drew swift condemnation from the Egyptian envoy to the league, Tareq Adel, who said they showed s Doha "supports terrorism," according to Egyptian news agency MENA.

The head of the Gulf Cooperation Council in turn rejected Tareq Adel's comments - indicating the council did not want to revive an internal rift which peaked when Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain withdrew their ambassadors from Doha last year over its support for Islamists.