Meanwhile, Qatar has withdrawn from the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) initiative to mediate between the Yemeni president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, and protesters in the country (May 2011, The political scene). The Qatari government cited Mr Saleh's ''procrastination'' in signing a deal to cede power as being behind their withdrawal. In a telephone call on May 12th to the GCC secretary-general, Abdul Latif al-Zayani, Qatar's prime minister and minister of foreign affairs, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabr al-Thani, said that the delay in signing the proposed agreement and escalation of violence in Yemen was ''incompatible'' with the spirit of the initiative. Qatar's withdrawal may also have been prompted by Mr Saleh's remarks on May 1st during an interview with a Russian television station in which he said he would have ''reservations'' about signing the GCC-brokered deal, if a Qatari representative was present. Mr Saleh accuses Qatar of funding the opposition, and singled out the Qatari-based al-Jazeera news channel of instigating the rebellion against him. GCC foreign ministers have rejected the allegation. However, on May 22nd, the foreign ministers themselves suspended mediation efforts after Mr Saleh insisted that he would only sign the deal if the opposition leaders, who had already signed it a day before, came to the presidential palace and signed it once again in his presence. Qatar has ''temporarily'' suspended the operations of its embassy in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, and has withdrawn its diplomatic staff, fearing for their safety after an eruption in violence following Mr Saleh's refusal to sign the deal. Mr Saleh has since left Yemen for Saudi Arabia, where he is being treated for injuries he sustained during an attack on his compound.

On Libya, however, Qatar has continued to step up its support for the Transitional National Council (TNC), which is fighting Libyan government forces. Co-chairing a meeting of the contact group on Libya with the Italian foreign minister, Franco Frattini, in Rome on May 5th, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem announced that Qatar would provide US$500m in aid to the rebels, and pleaded for the establishment of an international fund to help them. On May 11th, Qatar hosted a conference of 23 of Libya's regional councils to gather the support of Libya's tribes for the TNC under the leadership of Mustafa Abdel-Jalil, a former justice minister who broke away from Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's regime to lead the rebellion. Qatar has already contributed six fighter planes to the NATO force, helping to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya, and has undertaken to market crude oil for the rebels (May 2011, The political scene).