Al-Ula (Saudi Arabia): Arab leaders began arriving in Saudi Arabia for the GCC summit on Tuesday to focus on ending a stand-off with Qatar that began in 2017.
Qatari emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani was met at al Ula by Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as he landed.
Both hugged on the tarmac wearing face masks in view of the raging covid situation.
Kuwait had announced this week that Saudi Arabia would reopen airspace and borders to Qatar under a deal that will be signed in the presence of White House senior adviser Jared Kushner.
Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and United Arab Emirates had severed diplomatic and trade ties with Qatar over claims that it supports terrorism, a charge Doha has denied.
The thaw in ties among neighbours in the Arabian Gulf is the latest in a series of West Asian deals sought by the US that is aimed at closing ranks against Iran.
The thaw in ties seem to influenced by the aim to pre-empt pressure from the incoming Joe Biden administration and not a genuine urge to resolve the conflict, say analysts.
Biden in fact is determined to tow a harder line with the Saudis and hold it responsible for its human rights record and the war in Yemen.
The UAE and Egypt are at odds with Qatar in the Libya war and over the Muslim Brotherhood.
All six member-states of the Gulf Cooperation Council are US allies, with Qatar being the base for the US’s largest military base in the region. Bahrain hosts the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet while Saudi Arabia and UAE host US troops.
The other countries had set Doha 13 demands, including closing Al Jazeera TV, discarding a Turkish base, ending ties with the Muslim Brotherhood and downgrading ties with Tehran.