Gulf crisis: Saudi Arabia and Qatar show their reconciliation
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (right) greets the Emir of Qatar upon his arrival in Saudi Arabia.
AP
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5 mins
Gathered in Al-Ula, Saudi Arabia, the six oil-producing countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council signed a “solidarity and stability” agreement.
Riyadh announces this Tuesday evening the restoration of diplomatic relations between Qatar and the countries which boycotted it for three and a half years: Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt.
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"
Today we urgently need to unite our efforts,
" declared Saudi Crown Prince
Mohammed ben Salman,
who on Tuesday welcomed the leaders of the six Gulf oil monarchies.
The strongman of the Saudi kingdom immediately added that the rediscovered unity must make it possible to confront "
the threats posed by the Iranian regime's nuclear and missile program and its plans of sabotage and destruction
".
Before the opening of this summit of the member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, the same Mohammed ben Salman had greeted
the Emir of Qatar Tamim al-Thani as he
got off
his plane.
At the bottom of the catwalk, the two men, masked because of the Covid-19, hugged each other.
Riyadh and Doha therefore display their reconciliation, three and a half years after a spectacular rupture when Qatar was isolated by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt, who accused it of supporting Islamist movements and of 'to be too conciliatory towards Iran.
Qatar did not fold
It is not known for the moment if Qatar has made any concessions while it has always rejected the demands of its neighbors who asked it, for example, to close Al-Jazeera, the Qatari television which is a tool of influence of the emirate. in the Arab world.
“
Obviously, Qatar has made no concessions in this direction.
Qatar has managed during these three and a half years to replace what it had lost by building new relations with countries which until then were not in its sphere of influence or at least which were much less so. , like Iran and Turkey.
So Qatar held on and it is rather a victory for it,
”analyzes researcher Stéphane Lacroix, from CERI-Sciences Po.
“
Maybe Qatar will put water in their wine, but I don't believe they will go further.
Which means that this crisis will not be completely resolved.
What irritated Saudi Arabia will continue one way or another
”, continues Stéphane Lacroix who thinks that the two countries are heading rather towards a cold peace.
It will be a cold peace at best, it is a cold reconciliation to be expected.
I don't believe the two countries are going to become best friends in the world in a matter of months.
Stéphane Lacroix, CERI-Sciences-PO researcher
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Saudi Arabia
Qatar
Bahrain
Egypt
United Arab Emirates