Qatar attends Gulf summit: Beginning of breakthrough for Quartet crisis in Saudi Arabia

At a time when Kuwaiti Minister of Foreign Affairs Ahmed Nasser Al-Sabah decided to open the skies and borders between Saudi Arabia and Qatar, Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani announced his attendance at the Gulf summit in Saudi Arabia, scheduled to be held on Tuesday.

The Emiri Diwan said in a statement, “Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani leads the delegation of the State of Qatar to participate in the meeting of the 41st session of the Supreme Council of the [Gulf] Cooperation Council, which will be held tomorrow, Tuesday, in the province of Al-Ula in the sisterly Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”

He added that the Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, made two calls to the Saudi Crown Prince and the Emir of Qatar, confirming the agreement to open the skies and land and sea borders between the two countries.

The Kuwaiti official added that all parties emphasized the need for unity, reunification, and gathering the word.

Kuwait has sought to end the dispute in which Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt cut diplomatic and commercial relations, as well as travel links with Qatar, in mid-2017.

The Saudi Press Agency quoted Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as saying that the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit “will be a unifying summit for the class in the face of challenges” in the region.

It is noteworthy that the GCC summit will be held in its 41st session on Tuesday in Al-Ula, northwest of the Kingdom, at the invitation of King Salman, with the participation of leaders of GCC member states.

GCC Secretary-General Nayef Falah Mubarak Al-Hajraf confirmed that the holding of this summit despite the exceptional circumstances the world is going through confirms the keenness of the leaders of the participating countries to preserve the GCC as a cohesive system capable of overcoming difficulties and challenges.

UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash wrote on Twitter that the summit is historic par excellence through which to restore Gulf cohesion and ensure the security, stability and prosperity of Gulf countries and peoples as the first priority, adding that they are moving in the right direction, although there is more work to be done.

The Sultanate of Oman announced the absence of Sultan Haitham bin Tariq from the summit, and the official news agency said that the Deputy Prime Minister for Cabinet Affairs, Fahd bin Mahmoud Al Said, would head to Saudi Arabia to lead the Sultanate’s delegation.

A senior official in the administration of US President Donald Trump said that Senior White House Advisor Jared Kushner, who was assigned by Trump to work to resolve the dispute, was on his way, accompanied by Middle East Envoy Avi Berkowitz and the special advisor of the US State Department, Brian Hook, to Saudi Arabia to attend the signing ceremony.