Qatari Foreign Minister: Now there is a movement to resolve the Gulf dispute

On Friday, Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani revealed that “now there is a movement to resolve the Gulf conflict”, and noted that the solution to the Gulf dispute “must be comprehensive.”
The Qatari minister added: “We hope that things will move in the right direction, but we cannot predict whether the move is imminent or the conflict will be fully resolved,” according to “Reuters.”

The Gulf-Qatar crisis has witnessed recent steps aimed at ending the crisis that has existed since 2017, in light of the visit of Jared Kushner, envoy of US President Donald Trump, to the region.

Sources revealed to “Al-Ghad” TV that a Gulf summit is expected to be held in Saudi Arabia during the next period, in the presence of the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad. Western reports previously indicated that Kushner was mediating the reconciliation effort.

The same sources added that the expected conciliation will be based on the 2014 agreement, based on the establishment of specific mechanisms to implement the agreement.

Earlier this week, media reports said that Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of US President Donald Trump, would visit Saudi Arabia and Qatar, seeking to gain diplomatic victories in the region before leaving the White House.

The US “Wall Street Journal” quoted “unnamed” US and Gulf officials that this visit will focus in particular on resolving the existing dispute between Qatar and the Saudi-led coalition, but there may be other issues on the agenda.

After a disagreement that lasted almost the entire presidency of Donald Trump, the US media reported a possible agreement between Qatar and Saudi Arabia, in light of indications that the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt did not respond to the efforts of the US administration.

According to the US newspaper “The New York Times”, the adviser to the US president, Jared Kushner, and his colleagues in Doha have proposed rerouting Qatari commercial flights over Saudi airspace, in order to “strip Iran of about 100 million dollars a year “, with the aim of tightening the economic screws even more.

However, the United Arab Emirates continues to be an obstacle to this effort, as it is not in the process of allowing Qatari aircraft to cross its airspace, according to the US newspaper, in addition to achieving a comprehensive reconciliation, which requires a great effort to rebuild lost trust.

The “Financial Times” newspaper cited sources it described as “familiar with the talks” that Saudi Arabia is currently stepping up its efforts to resolve the Gulf crisis, which has lasted for more than three years, following the defeat of President Donald Trump in the elections.

The newspaper considered that this step to end the boycott of Qatar by three Gulf countries is seen as a Saudi attempt to win over the new administration of President-elect Joe Biden and say goodbye to Trump.