CAIRO — The organization of Persian Gulf monarchies on Friday withdrew a statement issued the previous day that defended Qatar against Egyptian allegations of supporting terrorism. The turnabout raised questions about possible discord or confusion within the organization, and about what appeared to be signs of reconciliation after a long dispute over Egypt between Qatar and its neighbors.

The confusion began on Thursday when Abdul Latif al-Zayani, the secretary general of the regional Gulf Cooperation Council, issued a statement admonishing Egypt for accusing Qatar of supporting terrorism. The statement defended Qatar’s contributions to the battle against terrorism and said that Egypt’s allegations, made following a dispute over Egypt’s airstrikes in Libya on Monday, were unhelpful to Arab unity at a critical time.

The statement was disseminated through the official Twitter account of the council’s general secretariat, and it was reported as accurate by state-controlled media outlets in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and other gulf states. Several news organizations said the statement had appeared for a time on the council’s website.

On Friday, however, the same Twitter account circulated a statement from Mr. Zayani denying and contradicting his first statement, which had been removed. Some state-owned news organizations in Egypt and elsewhere reported his denial.