After more than three years of severing diplomatic ties, Saudi Arabia on Monday (January 4) reopened its airspace and its land and sea borders in Qatar, the Kuwaiti Foreign Minister announced.

"Based on a proposal from the Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Sabah, it was agreed to open the airspace as well as the land and sea borders between Saudi Arabia and Qatar as of this evening "Monday, announced Sheikh Ahmed Nasser al-Sabah in a televised statement, without further specifying the time.

Call for unity 

The announcement comes on the eve of a much-anticipated summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries in Saudi Arabia, during which a reconciliation could be sealed between Riyadh - as well as several other countries - and Qatar.

The Saudi kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt broke off diplomatic relations with Qatar in June 2017, accusing it of supporting the Islamists, of connivance with Iran or of causing trouble in the region.

The rich and ambitious gas emirate has always denied and denounced the "blockade" of which he claimed to be a victim.

Saudi Arabia will reopen its airspace and land borders in Qatar.

This is not the end of the conflict between Riyadh and Doha.

But it is appeasement.

The start of a settlement which should allow the Emir of Qatar to attend the Gulf Council summit tomorrow.

pic.twitter.com/1uWXR8oR3a

- Georges Malbrunot (@Malbrunot) January 4, 2021

The Kuwaiti foreign minister added that the Emir of Kuwait, who acts as a mediator in the Gulf crisis, had spoken by telephone with the Saudi and Qatari leaders.

The latter called for "unity" of the Gulf countries at the summit on Tuesday, he said.

The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, was officially invited to the summit as in previous years, but he had never attended.

But shortly after the announcement of the Kuwaiti minister, a statement from the office of the Qatari emir said that he would be present this time, a promising sign of reconciliation.

"The emir will participate in the meeting of the GCC to be held on Tuesday in the province of Al-Ula in the brother kingdom of Saudi Arabia," the statement said.

Washington pressure

The United States, anxious to unify the Arab countries against Iran, lobbied to reconcile the cold countries in the Gulf, all of them strategic partners of Washington.

The break with Qatar was accompanied by retaliatory measures: closure of borders and airspace to Qatari planes and restriction on Qatari travel, which sometimes led to the separation of mixed families.

US National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien said in November that allowing planes from Qatar to fly over Saudi Arabia was a priority for President Donald Trump, as part of his policy of maximum pressure on Tehran .

According to Iranian media, Qatar - whose planes are forced to bypass Saudi Arabia - pays more than $ 100 million a year to use the airspace of the Islamic Republic, a windfall for the country suffocated by sanctions American.

Thirteen conditions

The five countries in diplomatic conflict have multiplied unusually conciliatory statements in recent weeks.

But the United Arab Emirates, particularly hostile to Qatar because of its proximity to the Muslim Brotherhood, would be resistant to reconciliation, according to experts.

The anti-Qatar quartet had formulated thirteen conditions for the resumption of relations with Doha, in particular the closure of Al-Jazeera, a television channel hated by many Arab regimes, commitments on the end of the financing of extremist groups or even the closure of a Turkish military base on Qatari soil.

The emirate has always refused to comply with these requests, which it considers infringing on its sovereignty.

As a reassurance, however, analysts believe that the Qatari media, including Al-Jazeera, may need to moderate their tone vis-à-vis Saudi Arabia.

With AFP

The summary of the week

France 24 invites you to come back to the news that marked the week

I subscribe

Take international news everywhere with you!

Download the France 24 application

google-play-badge_FR