After more than three years of severing diplomatic ties between the two Gulf countries, Saudi Arabia will reopen its airspace and its land and sea borders in Qatar on Monday, January 4, the Kuwaiti foreign minister announced on Monday.
“Based on a proposal from the Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, it was agreed to open the air space as well as the land and sea borders between Saudi Arabia and Qatar from tonight “, Monday, announced Sheikh Ahmed Nasser Al-Sabah in a televised statement, without further timing.
The announcement comes on the eve of a much-anticipated summit of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries in Saudi Arabia, at which reconciliation could be sealed between Riyadh, as well as several other countries, and Qatar.
The Saudi kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt broke off diplomatic relations with Qatar in June 2017, accusing it of supporting the Islamists, of connivance with Iran or of sowing trouble in the region. The rich and ambitious gas emirate has always denied and denounced the “Blockade” of which he claims to be a victim.
The Kuwaiti foreign minister added that the Emir of Kuwait, who acts as a mediator in the Gulf crisis, had spoken by telephone with the Saudi and Qatari leaders. The latter called for “The unit” Gulf countries at the summit on Tuesday, he said.
The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim Ben Hamad Al Thani, was officially invited to the summit as in previous years, but until then he has never attended. Shortly after the announcement by the Kuwaiti minister, a statement from the office of the Qatari Emir announced that he would be present this time, a promising sign of reconciliation. “The emir will participate in the meeting of the GCC to be held on Tuesday in the province of AlUla, in the brother kingdom of Saudi Arabia”, according to the press release.
The United States, anxious to unify the Arab countries vis-à-vis Iran, lobbied to reconcile the cold countries in the Gulf, all of which are strategic partners of Washington.
The break with Qatar was accompanied by retaliatory measures: closure of borders and airspace to Qatari planes and restriction on Qatari travel, which sometimes led to the separation of mixed families.
Priority for Trump
US National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien said in November that allowing planes from Qatar to fly over Saudi Arabia was a priority for President Donald Trump, as part of his policy of maximum pressure on Tehran .
According to Iranian media, Qatar, whose planes are forced to bypass Saudi Arabia, pays more than $ 100 million per year to be able to use the airspace of the Islamic Republic, a windfall for this country suffocated by sanctions American.
The five countries in diplomatic conflict have multiplied unusually conciliatory statements in recent weeks. But the United Arab Emirates, particularly hostile to Qatar because of its proximity to the Muslim Brotherhood, would be resistant to reconciliation, according to experts.
The anti-Qatar quartet had formulated thirteen conditions for the resumption of relations with Doha, in particular the closure of Al-Jazeera, a television channel hated by many Arab regimes, commitments on the end of the financing of extremist groups or even the closure of a Turkish military base on Qatari soil.
The emirate has always refused to comply with these requests, which it considers infringing on its sovereignty. As a reassurance, however, analysts believe that the Qatari media, including Al-Jazeera, may need to moderate their tone vis-à-vis Saudi Arabia.
