On Monday, Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) met with Qatari ruler Sheikh Tamim bin-Hamad al-Thani in Jeddah, where they discussed the path towards establishing better bilateral ties. This was the Qatari leader’s first visit to Saudi Arabia since the two countries signed an agreement in January to end their three-year rift.
Sheikh Tamim visited the Kingdom upon an invitation from Saudi King Salman bin-Abdul Aziz al-Saud. During the meeting, the two sides agreed to improve “bilateral cooperation in various fields and [find] ways to enhance and develop them,” The leaders also exchanged views on the latest regional and international developments. Apart from MBS, the Saudis were represented by Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin-Farhan and Deputy Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin-Salman. Meanwhile, the Qatari delegation also included the country’s foreign and commerce ministers. This could indicate that the two countries are also interested in increasing cooperation in the fields of security, trade, and commerce.
Saudi Arabia, along with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Egypt, broke off diplomatic ties with Qatar in 2017 over claims that Doha was getting too close to Tehran and was causing regional unrest by supporting extremists, an allegation that Qatar has fiercely denied. Consequently, the four GCC members imposed a land, sea, and air blockade on Qatar. The travel ban was further supported by Jordan, Maldives, Malaysia, Yemen, and Libya.
Since 2017, however, there were efforts at negotiating a return to normalcy between the two sides. In January, Kuwait announced that Saudi Arabia will reopen its borders and airspace to Qatar, in a major step towards ending the bitter dispute. Soon after, during the 41st Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit in Al-Ula, Saudi Arabia, Gulf leaders signed a “solidarity and stability” agreement to end the three-year tiff between Qatar and the Saudi-led regional alliance.
As for Saudi’s relationship with other allies, its ties with the United States (US) have also taken a major hit since President Joe Biden’s election. A report released by the Biden administration explicitly blamed MBS for Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder. The US also temporarily stopped its support to the Saudi-led coalition’s war efforts in Yemen.
In this context, Saudi Arabia has been trying to gain much needed diplomatic ground in the region. Last month, the Saudi Crown Prince expressed interest in holding talks with arch-foe Iran. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu is also in Saudi Arabia in an effort to mend ties, which were strained in 2018 when Khashoggi was murdered by a Saudi squad in Istanbul.
MBS, Qatar Emir Hold Talks in Jeddah in Bid to Improve Ties
This was the first visit of the Qatari leader to Saudi Arabia since the two countries signed an agreement in January to end a three-year rift.
May 12, 2021
SOURCE: SAUDI PRESS AGENCY