Egyptians sacked in Qatar

Egypt has complained to the Gulf emirate of Qatar, after more than one-hundred-and-fifty Egyptians working for the Qatari Interior and Defence Ministries were dismissed.

The Egyptian ambassador to Qatar Muhammad Munaysi said in a radio interview that the sackings were due to the strained relations between the countries.

These arose after Egypt joined other Arab countries in boycotting an economic conference in Qatar last November.

The ambassador said that unless the situation improved, he expected the rest of the five-thousand Egyptians working for the Qatari authorities to be dismissed shortly.

There's been no comment so far from the Qatari government.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service