Saudi Arabia, Qatar agree to reopen airspace, maritime borders following Kuwaiti mediation

Kuwaiti Foreign Minister on January 4 announced that Saudi Arabia and Qatar have agreed to reopen their airspace and maritime borders after a years-long freeze on relations. On state television, Ahmad Nasser Mohammed al Sabah announced that based on the recommendation of his highness Sheikh Nawaf al Ahmad al Sabah, the Emir of Kuwait, it was agreed to open the air and maritime borders starting Monday between the two nations. He added that the final agreement was the fruit of a call brokered by the Kuwaiti Emir with the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, and the UAE had broken off relations with Qatar in 2017 and accused it of supporting terrorism and destabilising the region. Qatar, on the other hand, had rejected the accusations and called them “unjustified” and “baseless”. Now, the lifting of the embargo by Saudi Arabia paves the way for the Qatari ruler to attend a summit of Gulf leaders on Tuesday that will be held in the kingdom’s desert city of Al-Ula and chaired by the Saudi monarch, King Salman. 

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GCC summit to focus on ‘unity and cohesion’ 

According to CNN, Mohammed bin Salman said the summit would focus on regional “unity and cohesion”. He added that through the summit the hopes of the Saudi King and his brothers, the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) for unity and cohesion, will be translated into facing the challenges of the region. Moreover, the foreign minister for the UAE, Anwar Gargash, also said that he welcomed “a return to GCC unity at tomorrow’s summit”. 

According to reports, a senior US administration official said that President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner helped negotiate the reopening between the two countries and was also expected at the upcoming summit. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia and Qatar have recently also worked to close the rift. Back in December, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud had also said that he was “optimistic” about repairing relations. 

In recent months, the two countries had also taken a significant step toward reconciliation. Prince Faisal had credited both Kuwait and the US for making progress and for continuing efforts. At the same conference, he had also acknowledged that there were movements to finally "put an end to the Gulf crisis". 

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