Saudi Wants to Improve Relations with Qatar

Riyadh, MINA – Saudi Arabia is looking for ways to resolve a three-year rift with its Gulf neighbor Qatar.

It was emphasized by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud on the sidelines of the G20 Summit on Saturday.

“We are still willing to engage with our brothers and sisters in Qatar and we hope they are also committed to that involvement,” said Prince Faisal as quoted by the Aljazeera website on Monday.

“But we also need to address the legitimate security concerns of the four countries and I think there is a way to that with a solution in the relatively near future,” he added.

The Gulf dispute started in 2017 when Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and non-GCC member Egypt imposed a boycott on Qatar. The countries cut diplomatic and transport ties and accuse Qatar of supporting terrorism.

Qatar emphatically denies all accusations against it. Last month, Prince Faisal said Saudi Arabia was committed to finding a resolution. Also last week, Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said there was no winner in the Gulf crisis. He also hopes the problem will end “anytime”.

But Yousef al-Otaiba, the UAE ambassador to the US, told Israeli media that he did not believe a resolution would come soon.

“I don’t think this will be resolved anytime soon just because I think there is no introspection,” said al-Otaiba.

Several attempts in the past to end the dispute have failed. This is because Qatar has rejected the demands of the blocking states which include the closure of the Algerian Media Network, cutting ties with Islamic groups, limiting ties with Iran and expelling Turkish troops stationed in the country.

Until now, Qatar has been isolated because they considered all these demands unreasonable. (T/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)