Qatar reacted with surprise, with foreign minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassem Al Thani saying that Arab nations had decided six months ago to back Thailand's candidate, long before Jordan announced its own man.
"The government has decided to summon the Jordanian ambassador from Doha to Amman for consultations," Jordan's state-run Petra news agency said, without giving further details.
A senior official confirmed that but said that the reason went beyond the Qatari decision to vote for South Korea's candidate, foreign minister Ban Ki-Moon.
"The UN vote is not the only reason that made Amman take this decision. There have been a series of incidents over the past year," the official said on condition of anonymity. "Qatar has made it difficult for Jordanians to renew residency permits or to obtain visas and is always acting against Arab positions," the official added.
Another senior official earlier said that Jordan was considering punitive diplomatic measures against Qatar for failing to abide by a unanimous Arab decision to back Jordan's candidate to succeed Annan.
Government spokesman Nasser Jawdeh told reporters Monday of Amman's disappointment with the Qatari position. "Qatar has refused to back a unanimous Arab decision and this shocks us, surprises us and we are displeased," he said.
Tension between the two countries erupted when Qatar cast its vote for the South Korean candidate in the September 28 straw poll for Annan's successor.
On Saturday, according to a Jordanian official, Qatar's UN envoy broke ranks with a unanimous Arab stance to back Jordan's candidate by voting for Ban. "During the Security Council straw poll, the Qatari representative did not vote for Prince Zeid Bin Hussein, even though the council of the Arab League unanimously backed his candidacy," the official said.
"The Qatari representative not only broke with the unanimous Arab position, he even campaigned for the South Korean candidate," he added.
Ban won the backing of 14 of the 15 Security Council nations at another decisive straw poll Monday.
He now appears certain to be picked as the next UN secretary-general.
The council did not release an official tally for the poll, the fourth since July. But Qatari Ambassador Nasser Al Nasser said that 14 of the council's 15 members voted in favor of Ban, while the 15th cast a "no opinion" vote.
Foreign minister Thani told Al Jazeera television Tuesday night that Jordan's decision to recall its ambassador "is a matter for our brothers in Jordan, and we respect their decision."
However, he said that Qatar was surprised by the reaction, given that 14 Security Council votes had gone to Ban.
He explained that Qatar, after originally supporting Thailand's candidate, had switched its backing to South Korea, with Jordan coming forward later.
"We said that at the Arab League meeting, and the Jordanian foreign minister knows that well."
The senior Jordanian official said "it is as if Qatar is doing everything in its power to prove its bad intentions against Jordan." Qatar had adopted "a negative attitude toward Jordan because of its rapprochement with Saudi Arabia," he added. "Qatar has always become nervous when an Arab country gets closer to Saudi Arabia, because it thinks this is done at its expense."
Jordan has held close consultations with Saudi Arabia and Egypt in recent weeks, including during the month-long Israeli war against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
While the three countries tried to seek common ground on the Lebanon crisis, Qatar was seen backing Syria and Iran - Hezbollah's staunch allies and archrivals of Israel - in the conflict, Arab officials have said.
The official said that Jordanian expatriates in Qatar have begun facing bureaucratic nuisances "mostly when it comes to renewing their residency permits."
Around 15,000 Jordanians work in Qatar, mostly in construction.
Thani accused an unnamed "party" in Jordan of stirring up a media campaign against Qatar "seeking to create a crisis in relations," adding that it would not succeed.
© 2006 Agence France-Presse