Qatar Foreign Relations Saudi Arabia

The government said Thursday that it would shut down the Israeli trade mission, buckling to pressure from Iran and Saudi Arabia, which had threatened to boycott a summit of Islamic nations if the office remained open. Qatar, which is to host the summit, had been the only Arab country in the Persian Gulf to have commercial ties with the Jewish state.

The government said Thursday that it would shut down the Israeli trade mission, buckling to pressure from Iran and Saudi Arabia, which had threatened to boycott a summit of Islamic nations if the office remained open. Qatar, which is to host the summit, had been the only Arab country in the Persian Gulf to have commercial ties with the Jewish state.

Saudi and Qatari officials reported that a clash Wednesday in a disputed desert border region left at least two dead, but they gave wildly different versions of the encounter. Qatari military officials said Saudi soldiers attacked a Qatari border post, killing two soldiers and taking a third prisoner, the Qatar News Agency reported. But a Saudi government spokesmen, in a Saudi press agency report several hours later, called the Qatari report "totally baseless."

Saudi and Qatari officials reported that a clash Wednesday in a disputed desert border region left at least two dead, but they gave wildly different versions of the encounter. Qatari military officials said Saudi soldiers attacked a Qatari border post, killing two soldiers and taking a third prisoner, the Qatar News Agency reported. But a Saudi government spokesmen, in a Saudi press agency report several hours later, called the Qatari report "totally baseless."