Old foe MBZ lands in Doha for burying the hatchet, know what is the dispute between UAE and Qatar
UAE's President visits Qatar
The President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan held talks in Qatar on Monday. This is the first such high-level visit by a UAE leader after Saudi Arabia and its allies ended a boycott of Qatar in 2021. Mohammed bin Zayed lauded Qatar’s “successful” hosting of the FIFA World Cup 2022, calling it a pride for all Arabs. UAE state media quoted Sheikh Mohammed as saying that Doha's hosting of the tournament, the first held in the Middle East, was "a success and honour for all" Gulf states and the wider Arab world.
Sheikh Mohammed’s visit to Qatar: A sign of thaw
The Saudi-led Arab boycott of Qatar ended in 2021, after which Egypt was the first one to bury the hatchet with Qatar. But even after the ending of a 3-1/2 year embargo on Qatar, the ties between UAE and Qatar remained frayed. Now, the objective of the UAE’s recent visit to Qatar is to address this issue and resuscitate the bilateral ties. Anwar Gargash, the diplomatic adviser to the Emirati president, said on Twitter that “This s another step towards strengthening Gulf solidarity and joint action."
What was the dispute between the Saudi-led Arab bloc and Qatar?
In June 2017, the governments of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Egypt, the Maldives, Mauritania, Senegal, Djibouti, Comoros, Jordan, the Libyan government based in Tobruk, and finally the Hadi-led Yemeni government severed diplomatic ties with Qatar, blocked Qatar's airspace and sea routes, and Saudi Arabia closed the country's sole land crossing over its relations with Iran. The following were the burning issues that led the Saudi bloc to impose the blockade on Qatar:
- Qatar’s support to Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah (Iran-backed terrorist organizations)
- Qatar’s state-backed TV channel Al-Jazeera, which supported the Arab spring
- Qatar’s support to ISIS and Islamist extremists who threatened the Arab world’s security environment
(With inputs from agencies)
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