Arab dispute with Doha could last longer

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said that Qatar will not be barred from an Arab summit in Riyadh later this month, but the standoff between Doha and its neighboring countries could last a “long time”.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt have cut all transport and diplomatic ties with Qatar over its support of extremist groups and interference in the affairs of other countries. Doha denies this.

“We will not accept any resolutions to the crisis [with Qatar] outside an Arab or a Gulf framework, but that does not mean we will bar Qatar from attending the upcoming Arab summit,” Crown Prince Mohammed said in comment published on Wednesday in the Egyptian daily, Al Shorouk.

He added that the dispute with Doha “could last for a long time”, making a comparison to America’s decades-long embargo on Cuba.

On 5 January 2021, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and the rest of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states, along with Egypt, signed the “Al-Ula Declaration” at the 41st GCC Summit held in the city of Al-Ula.

This marks the end of a three and a half year boycott against the State of Qatar, which was put in place in June 2017, paving the way for the re-establishment of political and economic ties with Qatar.

Despite the lifting of the trade restrictions in relation to Qatar, it is still too early to tell how this will be implemented in practice.