Saudi Arabia had led a coalition of countries in the Gulf
and beyond to cut ties and transport links with Qatar in June 2017, charging
that it was too close to Iran and backed radical Islamist groups — allegations
Doha denied.
Those countries, along with Oman and Kuwait which have
mediated between the two sides, signed a rapprochement deal in the Saudi city
of Al-Ula, after Riyadh overnight re-opened its land, sea and air borders to
Doha.
“There is a desperate need today to unite our efforts to
promote our region and to confront challenges that surround us, especially the
threats posed by the Iranian regime’s nuclear and ballistic missile programme
and its plans for sabotage and destruction,” said Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed
bin Salman.
The Al-Ula Declaration “affirms our Gulf, Arab and Islamic
solidarity and stability,” he told the meeting, in comments echoed by other
leaders.
The details of the agreement were not immediately released,
and analysts have said it could be preliminary and not immediately address all
of the measures taken against Qatar.
But the warm welcome Prince Mohammed extended to Qatar’s
ruler Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, with the pair embracing at the airport
and then chatting animatedly, indicates a significant breakthrough.
Sheikh Tamim, visiting Saudi for the first time since the
crisis began, was whisked with the other leaders through Al-Ula’s dramatic
Martian landscape to the shimmering Maraya Concert Hall, a mirrored structure
situated in a nearby valley.
Later, Saudi state media tweeted a photo of the young Saudi
de facto leader behind the wheel of his sports utility vehicle, taking Sheikh
Tamim on a tour of the area.
“These are first steps or a first phase of reconciliation
that will be followed by other steps. Some may belittle that progress, but
resuming open direct communication and avoiding verbal attacks is progress,”
said Kuwait University assistant professor Bader al-Saif.
“The other states… will follow suit and pursue similar
reconciliatory steps.”
Washington had intensified pressure for a resolution to what
Doha calls a “blockade”, insisting Gulf unity is necessary to isolate US foe
Iran as the curtain falls on Donald Trump’s presidency.
Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser who
shuttled around the region to seek a deal, attended the signing in Al-Ula.
“The Trump administration will claim this as another victory
for sure,” said Royal United Services Institute analyst Tobias Borck.
Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Ahmad Nasser al-Sabah announced on
state television Monday that an agreement had been struck to open all the
borders between Saudi and Qatar with immediate effect.
Drivers south of Doha on the usually calm Salwa highway
towards the Saudi border at Abu Samra sounded their horns and waved their arms
from their car windows in the wake of the announcement, an AFP correspondent
reported.
“We will see all Saudis here, also all Qataris will visit
Saudi Arabia, and we will be friends as we were before and better,” said Hisham
al-Hashmi, a Qatari with an Emirati mother, who wore a traditional thobe and
winter headdress.
Saudi media, which is influential throughout the region,
quickly adopted a tone in stark contrast to past coverage of Qatar which had
focussed on past transgressions and alleged crimes, instead talking about
“unity” and “fraternity”.
The Saudi-led GCC hawks, along with Egypt, in 2017 closed
their airspace to Qatari planes, sealed their borders and ports, and expelled
Qatari citizens. An information battle raged online with the two camps trading
barbs, deepening the resentments.
Some observers have warned that the United Arab Emirates
could be the spoiler for reconciliation attempts, having heaped criticism on
Qatar.
However, Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid
al-Maktoum, who is also the ruler of Dubai, said the summit had brought unity
to the region.
“The changes and challenges surrounding us require strength,
cohesion and real Gulf cooperation,” he tweeted.
The UAE and Qatar in particular remain divided over Doha’s
perceived support for movements aligned to the Muslim Brotherhood and the two
countries’ backing for rival groups in the Libya conflict.
However, the diplomatic freeze has only served to make Qatar
more self-sufficient and push it closer to Iran, observers say. It has also
hurt Saudi strategic interests.
At the start of the crisis, the boycotting countries issued
a list of 13 demands to Doha, including the closure of pan-Arab satellite
television channel Al Jazeera, undertakings on “terror” financing, and the
shuttering of a Turkish military base in Qatar.
Qatar has not publicly bowed to any of the demands.
AFP