Egypt has opened an investigation into deposed president Mohamed Morsi for allegedly handing over to Qatar "documents relevant to national security," state news agency MENA reported on Wednesday. 

Morsi is already facing the death penalty in several trials and his supporters have been the target of a bloody crackdown by the authorities that has left more than 1,400 dead since he was turfed out in July 2013. 

High-ranking Saudi envoys held talks with the Qatari emir on Wednesday after months of strained relations over Doha's support for the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Libya and Syria.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal, intelligence chief Prince Khaled bin Bandar, and Interior Minister Nayef bin Abdulaziz met with Qatar's emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani in Doha, the official Qatari News Agency said.

Key Hamas backer Qatar hailed a Tuesday ceasefire that ended seven weeks of conflict in and around Gaza and offered to throw its huge gas earnings behind reconstruction efforts.

Qatar, which hosts the Palestinian Islamist movement's exiled leader Khaled Meshaal, paid tribute to the "resistance and the sacrifices" of the Palestinians in 50 days of conflict with Israel.

An American journalist held for nearly two years by militants linked to al-Qaida in Syria returned to the United States late Tuesday, two days after Qatar negotiated his release, his family said.

The United States said Monday that it had asked Qatar in advance not to pay a ransom for the release of U.S. hostage Peter Theo Curtis, who was freed by an Islamic rebel group in Syria.

Qatar, which mediated the release of a U.S. hostage held by al-Qaida in Syria, seeks to prove its role in confronting the Islamist radicals it has been accused of supporting, experts say.

The Qatari foreign ministry, in a statement, said the tiny gas-rich nation had "succeeded in releasing American journalist Peter Theo Curtis," after he spent 22 months in captivity.

Turkey and Qatar have kicked off efforts to negotiate the release of the soldiers and security forces abducted from Arsal following the clashes in the northeastern town, reported As Safir newspaper on Saturday.

Diplomatic sources told the daily that the initiative is being held in coordination with Prime Minister Tammam Salam and Mustaqbal Movement chief MP Saad Hariri.

The Palestinian president and Hamas' exiled leader Friday urged the United Nations to draw up a "timetable" for the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories to end, Qatar state media said.

President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas supremo Khaled Meshaal issued the appeal during talks in Doha, as fighting continues in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, Qatar's state news agency QNA said.

The Muslim Scholars Committee delegation announced on Friday that it was suspending its mediation regarding the release of the soldiers and security forces abducted from the northeastern border town of Arsal.

It explained that it took its decision pending better circumstances in the mediation.

Germany said Friday it regretted any offense caused to Qatar after a cabinet minister linked the Arab state to financing of jihadist militants in Syria and Iraq.

"We regret if there have been any misunderstandings" a foreign ministry spokesman said after the comments by Development Aid Minister Gerd Mueller to a German public broadcaster.