Qatar Emir heads to Saudi Arabia to attend GCC summit

Agencies | Riyadh

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani headed to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, state media said, for a Gulf Arab summit that is expected to see formal agreement towards ending a dispute that has seen Riyadh and its allies boycott Qatar.

Sheikh Tamim’s participation comes after Kuwait’s foreign minister announced late on Monday that Saudi Arabia will reopen its airspace, as well as it's land and sea border, with Qatar, paving the way for a deal towards resolving the Gulf crisis.

“Based on [Kuwait’s ruler Emir] Sheikh Nawaf’s proposal, it was agreed to open the airspace and land and sea borders between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the State of Qatar, starting from this evening,” Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Ahmad Nasser Al Sabah said on state TV.

In his statement, Kuwait’s foreign minister said that the Kuwaiti emir had spoken with Qatar’s emir and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The conversations “emphasised that everyone was keen on reunification” and would gather in Al-Ula [for the GCC summit] to sign a statement that promises to “usher in a bright page of brotherly relations”.

In June 2017, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain and Egypt accused Qatar, among other things, of supporting terrorism and being too close to Iran, and severed economic and diplomatic ties. They also imposed a land, sea and air blockade on Qatar.

Qatar has repeatedly denied the allegations and said there was “no legitimate justification” for the severance of relations.

Kuwait has been mediating between Qatar and four Arab states.

The summit in Al-Ula, in Saudi Arabia’s northwest, will be attended by Jared Kushner, adviser and son-in-law to United States President Donald Trump, following his diplomatic efforts, a US official said.

“We’ve had a breakthrough in the Gulf Cooperation Council rift,” the official said on condition of anonymity, confirming an announcement from Kuwait.

Kushner will attend “to sign an agreement that will end the blockade and put an end to the Qatari lawsuits,” the official added.