-Gulf States sign ‘solidarity and stability’ deal at GCC Summit
-Pakistan welcomes Saudi, Qatar decision to reopen borders
Middle East Desk
Report
Riyadh: Gulf leaders have signed a ‘solidarity and stability’ agreement to end their three-year diplomatic rift with Qatar at a summit in Saudi Arabia, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman said.
The leaders were meeting in Saudi Arabia for their annual summit on Tuesday amid a breakthrough in the long-running dispute between a Saudi-led bloc and Qatar.
On Monday, Saudi Arabia announced the reopening of land borders with Qatar after a three and a half-year rift that saw the kingdom, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain cut diplomatic and trade ties, and impose a land, sea and air blockade on the Gulf state. The quartet accused Doha of being too close to Iran and supporting terrorist groups. Qatar has vehemently denied the allegations and accused its neighbours of attacking its sovereignty. “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,” the crown prince told the meeting, thanking the United States and Kuwait for their mediation.
“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.” Leaders of the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council signed two documents, the Al-Ula declaration, named after the Saudi city where the summit was held, and a final communique.
Their contents were not immediately released but hopes for a deal to end the impasse were raised overnight when Saudi announced it would open its borders to Doha despite lingering issues between the neighbours. The Abu Samra border crossing between Saudi Arabia and Qatar was quiet on Tuesday morning, several hours after Kuwait announced the border was open.
It is not yet clear what the rules are for crossing the border, however, Qatar is not allowing non-resident visitors into the country as part of COVID-19 restrictions. “There still has been no crossings after yesterday’s announcement,” Al Jazeera’s Sorin Furcoi said, reporting from the border. Sultan Barakat, director of the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies at the Doha Institute, said Qatar has emerged as a more resilient country since the blockade was imposed more than three years ago. “Over the last few years, the Qataris have managed to learn to live with the blockade and that has helped them discover better ways of living and more efficient ways of sustaining their economy and managing their affairs,” Barakat told Al Jazeera.
“This resulted in an extremely resilient country that has demonstrated itself in the lifting of the blockade without them having to address the totally irrational 13 conditions,” he said.
