Hopes fade as Gulf crisis hits 100-day landmark

As the boycott of Qatar by a Saudi-led bloc of countries approaches its 100th day Wednesday, experts have warned the increasingly bitter dispute could last into 2018 and beyond.

"If the present trajectory is anything to go by, I expect this crisis to last well into the next year," Christopher Davidson, a Middle East expert at Britain's Durham University, told AFP.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut all ties with Qatar on June 5, accusing it of bankrolling Islamist extremists and being too close to Iran.

They closed Qatar's only land border, denying air space to its national airline and suspending maritime links.

The drastic measures led many observers to believe the tiny emirate would have no choice but to yield quickly under the pressure of its key trading partners.

Instead, Qatar denied the charges and portrayed the boycott as an attack on its sovereignty.

On Monday, Qatar's foreign minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani accused the Saudi-led bloc of trying to force Doha "into a state of trusteeship", echoing his initial response to the crisis on June 7.