Riad's grab for power fails: Qatar and its golf neighbors settle a dispute

Riad's grab for power fails
Qatar and its golf neighbors settle a dispute

In the summer of 2017, the emirate of Qatar suddenly found itself alone. Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates close their borders and impose a complete blockade. But their reach for dominance in the region fails and reconciliation ensues. Not everyone is happy about it.

More than three years after a blockade against Qatar began, Saudi Arabia and its allies are settling their dispute with the emirate. Kuwait's Foreign Minister Ahmed Nassir al-Mohammed al-Sabah said according to a report by the state agency Kuna that the countries had agreed to open their border traffic. The announcement came a day before the Gulf Cooperation Council's annual meeting in Riyadh on Tuesday. The conflict and its announced end should be the dominant theme at the meeting.

The Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan had already announced in early December that there had been "significant progress" in the search for a solution to the crisis. "We hope this progress can lead to a final deal that seems within reach."

Qatari sources said that Sheikh Mohammed bin Said Al Nahjan, Crown Prince Abu Dhabi and de facto ruler of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), was against the reconciliation. The Saudi news channel Al-Arabija reported that the Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmed al-Jaber Al-Sabah, had discussed the agreement with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on the phone .

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(Photo: picture alliance / dpa)

Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the Emirates closed the borders with the country on a peninsula and imposed a complete blockade on June 5, 2017. All diplomatic and trade relations and transport routes were cut, compatriots and investments withdrawn. Egypt joined the blockade. Observers also saw an attempt by Saudi Arabia to expand its dominance in the region.

Multi-billion dollar sovereign wealth fund helps

Above all, Riyadh and Abu Dhabi was and is a thorn in the side that Qatar supports Islamist organizations such as the Muslim Brotherhood. The states had accused the emirate of supporting terrorism and having too close ties with Shiite Iran. They had called for Doha to end its relations with Tehran and also to close the popular news channel Al-Jazeera, which critics believe gives the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamists too much space. Qatar had denied the allegations.

The blockade had initially led to a bottleneck in imported goods in Qatar. However, the emirate was able to compensate for financial losses from its multi-billion government fund. Otherwise, Doha withstood the pressure thanks to its large economic resources and political alliances beyond the Gulf region. Diplomatic efforts to find a solution to the crisis, including those by Chancellor Angela Merkel, were unsuccessful. Numerous German companies are also represented in Qatar.

Qatar is hosting the 2022 World Cup and is one of the richest countries in the world based on per capita income. The country is the world's largest exporter of liquefied gas and wants to increase production significantly. At the same time, Qatar is criticized for its human rights situation, especially when it comes to dealing with migrant workers. According to Amnesty International, two million of the approximately 2.4 million inhabitants are migrant workers, most of whom come from poor countries such as Bangladesh, Nepal and India.

. (tagsToTranslate) Politics (t) Qatar (t) Qatar Crisis (t) Mohammed bin Salman (t) Saudi Arabia (t) Dubai (t) Abu Dhabi (t) United Arab Emirates (t) Bahrain