Qatar paid al-Qaeda affiliate up to $1bn ransom for 26 members of royal family (ft.com)

Direct click-throughs will likely lead to the paywall. Be creative :)

Interesting this reason was absent from reports about naval ports being shut down surrounding Qatar. http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-06-06/gulf-states-launch-...

"U.S. security agencies believe Russian hackers helped stoke the current crisis in Qatar, planting a fake news story that led to four Arab nations cutting off diplomatic relations, according to a new report." [1]

[1] http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-suspects-russian-hackers...