Qatar has reportedly agreed to stop offering citizenship to nationals from other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states in a bid to end a six-month long row with neighbours who accuse it of threatening their national security.

Doha also has pledged to discontinue harbouring members of outlawed radical Islamist groups, according to London-based paper Ahsarq Al Awsat, which quoted an unnamed senior GCC diplomat.

However, it was not stated whether this would include the Muslim Brotherhood, which is outlawed by the UAE and Saudi Arabia but financially supported by Qatar.

The UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain withdrew their ambassadors from Doha on March 5, accusing Qatar of interfering in their states and calling on it to cease support of the Muslim Brotherhood and reign in its pan-Arab TV channel Al Jazeera.

It is the second report since a meeting of GCC foreign ministers in Jeddah last week claiming the states had moved closer to a resolution.

An Omani official was quoted by Bahraini media on Thursday saying the ambassadors would be returned to Doha “soon”.

Bahrain last week accused Qatar of threatening its national security by “luring” its citizens to take Qatari citizenship with additional privileges.

According to the diplomat quoted by Ahsarq Al Awsat, Wednesday’s meeting set a strict legal framework regulating foreign policy and ties among GCC member states, including a code aimed at unifying the political and security interests of the GCC states.

Any breach of the code would incur penalties affecting the level of diplomatic representation, the diplomat said.

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