UAE envoy says Gulf states could ask trading partners to choose between them and Qatar

Gulf Arab states are considering fresh sanctions on Qatar and could ask their trading partners to choose between working with them or Doha, the UAE ambassador to Russia said in an interview with The Guardian newspaper.

The UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain severed diplomatic and travel ties with Qatar earlier this month, accusing it of funding hardline Islamist militant groups in the region, a charge Doha denies.

"There are certain economic sanctions that we can take which are being considered right now," Omar Ghobash told the newspaper in an interview in London.

"One possibility would be to impose conditions on our own trading partners and say you want to work with us then you have got to make a commercial choice," he said.

He said the expulsion of Qatar from the GCC was "not the only sanction available".