Somalilandsun: Saudi-led Arab bloc and Qatar have signed a formal agreement at a summit aimed at ending a rift that saw a three-year blockade of Doha shatter Gulf unity at a time of heightened regional tensions with Iran.
The announcement came on Tuesday at the Gulf Arab leaders meeting in Saudi Arabia, with the annual summit taking place amid a breakthrough in the dispute between a Saudi-led bloc and Qatar that started in June 2017.
“These efforts helped us reach the agreement of the Al-Ula statement that will be signed at this summit, where we affirm our Gulf, Arab and Islamic solidarity and stability,” said the crown prince Mohamed Bin Salman , thanking the United States and Kuwait for their mediation.
Saudi Arabia is hosting the summit that saw Leaders of the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council signed the Al-Ula declaration, named after the Saudi city where the summit is being held, and a final communique.
Three years ago Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut diplomatic and trade ties with Doha, and imposed a sea, land and air blockade on Qatar, claiming it supported “terrorism” and was too close to Iran.
Qatar rejected the claims and said there was “no legitimate justification” for the severance of relations.
Now, following the solidarity and stability agreement all the GCC countries that had blockade Qatar are set to follow the lead by Saudi Arabia .
“Based on [Kuwait’s ruler Emir] Sheikh Nawaf’s proposal who is leading reconciliation efforts between the four GCC members and Qatar “Saudi Arabia will reopen its airspace and land and sea border to Qatar as of Monday”
