Qatar has asked seven senior figures from Egypt's outlawed Muslim Brotherhood to leave the country, following months of pressure from its neighbours to stop backing the Islamists, a report said.

"The Qatari authorities told them that circumstances would not allow the presence of all these Brotherhood figures in Doha," a source was quoted as saying in the Gulf Daily News, our sister publication.

Qatari officials were not immediately available for comment.

Qatar and Turkey were the only regional countries to back the Brotherhood after Egypt's army toppled Islamist president Mohamed Mursi last year following mass protests against his rule.

Tensions over Qatar's support for the Brotherhood led Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE to withdraw their ambassadors from Doha in March.

Egypt has declared the Brotherhood a terrorist movement.

The spokesman for Egypt's foreign ministry declined to comment until Cairo had examined the issue.

Meanwhile, Qatar has been urged by the US to support action against Islamic State (IS) militants who control parts of Iraq and Syria.

US Secretary of State John Kerry had earlier won backing for a "co-ordinated military campaign" against IS from 10 Arab countries - Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and six Gulf states including Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil said some Arab states at talks in Jeddah on Thursday had proposed expanding the campaign to fight other Islamist groups besides IS.

That could include the Muslim Brotherhood, though Turkey would be expected to oppose this.

Kerry arrived in Cairo yesterday for talks with senior government officials. Many Brotherhood leaders are on trial in Cairo and could face the death penalty. – TradeArabia News Service