JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (CU)_A breakthrough has been reached in the dispute between a Saudi-led quartet and Qatar, and an agreement is expected to be signed with Doha on Tuesday (Jan 5), Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Ahmad Nasser al-Sabah said.
Experts have noted that the dispute would top the agenda of the Gulf Cooperation Council’s (GCC) annual Summit this year, as Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said the gathering of Gulf leaders would unite Gulf ranks “in the face of challenges facing the region.”
Qatar’s ruler, Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, will sign the agreement with the Saudi crown prince, under which, Saudi Arabia will reopen its airspace and land and sea border to Qatar as of Monday, the Kuwaiti Minister said.
In June 2017, Saudi Arabia led its allies the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt to cut ties with Qatar owing to its close relations with Iran and for funding radical Islamist movements, claims strongly denied by Doha. After severing ties, the countries issued a list of 13 demands for Qatar, including that it shut down its broadcaster Al Jazeera.
However, in the recent past, Saudi Arabia has made clear it intented to lift the blockade, as the Kingdom’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said last month that a resolution was in sight. Although Egypt and the UAE subsequently gave their public support to the negotiations, sources claim that the UAE has been reluctant to compromise.
Nevertheless, the anticipated agreement is considered to be a “massive breakthrough”, as it will pave the way for free flow of goods and people between the countries in the Middle East, and contribute to the political and economic stability in the region.
