Saudi Arabia accuses Qatar of making a 'declaration of war'


Saudi Arabia is pushing back against a demand it says Qatar made regarding the hajj pilgrimage made by Muslims to Mecca, calling it a "declaration of war."
The Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya television network quoted Saudi Arabia's foreign minister as saying Qatar's "demands to internationalize the holy sites is aggressive and a declaration of war against the kingdom. We reserve the right to respond to anyone who is working on the internationalization of the holy sites." Qatar's foreign minister told Al Jazeera his government has no idea what Saudi Arabia is talking about, as no one ever said anything about internationalizing hajj. "We are tired of responding to false information and stories invented from nothing," Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said.
What Qatar did say on Saturday is that it's worried Qataris will have a hard time attending hajj this year because of the severed diplomatic ties between Saudi Arabia and Qatar, Reuters reports. Earlier this summer, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Bahrain joined forces against Qatar, accusing the country of supporting terror groups, and demanded that Qatar meet 13 requirements before they would re-establish diplomatic ties.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
White House tackles fake citations in MAHA report
speed read A federal government public health report spearheaded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was rife with false citations
-
Judge blocks push to bar Harvard foreign students
speed read Judge Allison Burroughs sided with Harvard against the Trump administration's attempt to block the admittance of international students
-
Trump's trade war whipsawed by court rulings
Speed Read A series of court rulings over Trump's tariffs renders the future of US trade policy uncertain
-
Elon Musk departs Trump administration
speed read The former DOGE head says he is ending his government work to spend more time on his companies
-
Trump taps ex-personal lawyer for appeals court
speed read The president has nominated Emil Bove, his former criminal defense lawyer, to be a federal judge
-
US trade court nullifies Trump's biggest tariffs
speed read The US Court of International Trade says Trump exceeded his authority in imposing global tariffs
-
Trump pauses all new foreign student visas
speed read The State Department has stopped scheduling interviews with those seeking student visas in preparation for scrutiny of applicants' social media
-
Trump pardons Virginia sheriff convicted of bribery
speed read Former sheriff Scott Jenkins was sentenced to 10 years in prison on federal bribery and fraud charges