Gulf rivals reconcile at Saudi summit, ending long rift with Qatar
- Riyadh and its allies restore full relations with Doha, after previously cutting ties and transport links
- Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman calls for unity in the region, singling out ‘threats’ posed by Iran’s nuclear programme
Saudi Arabia and its allies have restored full relations with Qatar, Riyadh said on Tuesday after a landmark summit, ending a damaging rift that erupted in 2017.
Four nations, led by Saudi, cut ties and transport links with Qatar in June that year, alleging it backed radical Islamist groups and was too close to Riyadh’s rival Iran – allegations Doha denied.
Saudi said that the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt were joining it in re-establishing ties with Qatar, whose ruler was greeted with a warm embrace on arrival in the kingdom by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
“What happened today is … the turning of the page on all points of difference and a full return of diplomatic relations,” Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said following the summit in the desert city of Al-Ula.
Leaders of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) signed two documents on Tuesday, the Al-Ula Declaration and a final communique, described by Prince Mohammed as affirming “our Gulf, Arab and Islamic solidarity and stability”.
