Testing Qatar's Intentions

The Saudi monarch King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud wants to test the Qatari position on reconciliation himself, especially as he is the one who opened the door for a truce with Doha, and is seeking to unify the Gulf position to enable the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to face regional challenges united, but if the Qataris do not respond to this royal desire, the matter will end early.

Gulf analysts believe the announcement of a Gulf summit in Riyadh, instead of Manama, clearly shows that Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has taken over the file of reconciliation with Qatar and that Riyadh will seek within the remainder of the time before the summit date to test Doha's intentions.

Saudi Arabia wants to ascertain Qatar's intent regarding reconciliation arrangements and how serious it is about taking the necessary steps to prove its goodwill before expanding the reconciliation efforts to include the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

A Gulf diplomatic source said “the fact that the file is in the hands of King Salman means that he will not leave room for maneuvers and contradictory statements that have characterized the Qatari position in recent years, as it expressed its desire for reconciliation with one hand, and escalated its media attacks with the other, leading to thwarting the reconciliation efforts that Doha was running after before anyone else”.

The postponement of the Gulf summit from its regular date in December to the fifth of January reveals a desire to give the Kuwaiti and Omani efforts sufficient time to receive pledges from Qatar regarding the thirteen conditions behind the boycott decision.

The boycotting countries had made 13 demands on Doha, ranging from halting Al Jazeera's smear campaigns, closing a Turkish military base in Qatar, to cutting ties with the Muslim Brotherhood and downgrading its ties with Iran.

Saudi Arabia, the Emirates and Bahrain, in addition to Egypt, accuse Qatar of supporting terrorism, in reference to its support to Islamist groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood.