DUBAI (REUTERS) - Qatar has accused Saudi Arabia of allowing a protracted dispute to hinder Gulf Arab coordination over the coronavirus outbreak by denying the Qatari health minister timely access to a meeting of regional health ministers in Riyadh.

Qatar's foreign ministry said in a post on its official Twitter account that Saudi Arabia had granted an entry permit to Public Health Minister Hanan al-Kuwari only after the meeting at the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) General Secretariat on Wednesday (Feb 19) had already started.