Qatar has recalled its ambassador to Egypt “for consultations”, state news agency QNA said late on Wednesday, amid a diplomatic row over Egyptian air strikes on jihadist targets in Libya.

The agency said the ambassador’s recall came after remarks by the Egyptian envoy to the Arab League.

Egyptian media had quoted its delegate to the League, Tareq Adel, as criticising Qatar for expressing reservations over the Egyptian air strikes in Libya and accusing Doha of supporting terrorism and deviating from Arab consensus.

The diplomatic row could revive a rift within the Western-allied and oil-rich Gulf Cooperation Council. Last year, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain withdraw their ambassadors from Doha over its perceived support for Islamists.

Egyptian jets bombed jihadist targets in Libya on Monday, a day after a group with connections to the Islamic State organisation released a video apparently showing the beheading of 21 Egyptian Christians, drawing Cairo directly into the conflict across its border.

QNA quoted the director of the Arab affairs department at the Qatari foreign ministry as saying that Doha had expressed reservation at an Arab League meeting in Cairo over Egypt’s unilateral decision to carry out air raids in Libya without consultations with other Arab states.

(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS)