UAE tries to scuttle Qatar-Saudi reconciliation
There are signs that ties between Qatar and Saudi Arabia are improving, but the United Arab Emirates is maintaining a hard-line position on Doha, threatening Gulf reconciliation.
It is no surprise that Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani was given a warm royal welcome in Saudi Arabia on July 22, which might suggest that the Gulf crisis is coming to an end.
The official news did not disclose any details on the visit, except that it was for the purpose of “discussing the prospects for cooperation between the two countries,” the standard statement used for all meetings between official Gulf delegations. The visit of the Qatari emir came after an Omani delegation headed to Riyadh on March 20, attempting to mediate to end the Qatari-Saudi feud.
Progress on the Gulf crisis has been fluctuating in recent months, despite the reconciliation efforts led by Oman and Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah. The efforts culminated in the July 7 visit of the Qatari emir to Kuwait, seen as a penultimate step to the implementation of the Gulf reconciliation.
Qatar viewed the withdrawal of Saudi, Bahraini and Emirati envoys from its capital in March this year as contrary to the interests of the Gulf people. In fact, Qatar was the third country, after Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, to endorse the Saudi king’s proposal to move from Gulf cooperation to a Gulf union. Doha did not withdraw its ambassadors from these countries, taking the view that the spar would be temporary.
