Saudi Arabia foreign minister says, "Diplomatic relations have been restored between Qatar and four Arab states that imposed an embargo against it for three years". Prince Faisal bin Farhad has informed the reporters that the countries had agreed to "fully set our differences aside" at a Gulf Co-operation Council summit on Tuesday. Saudi Arabia's crown prince publicly embraced the emir of Qatar reported a news agency.
In 2017, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt cut ties with Qatar, accusing it of supporting terrorism. Qatar, small, gas and oil-rich state denied the accusation and rejected the conditions for ending the partial blockade, including closing the Doha-based Al Jazeera broadcast network and curbing relations with Iran. However, in recent times, Kuwaiti and US mediators stepped up efforts to end the stand-off. The leaders of the six GCC member states signed an agreement on the 41st GCC summit in the Saudi heritage site of al-Ula that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said affirmed "our Gulf, Arab and Islamic solidarity and stability".
"There is a desperate need today to unite our efforts to promote our region and to confront challenges that surround us, especially the threats posed by the Iranian regime's nuclear and ballistic missile programme and its plans for sabotage and destruction," he added. In a press conference arranged later, Prince Faisal told, "What happened today is... the turning of the page on all points of difference and a full return of diplomatic relations." The GCC member countries presented Qatar with 13 demands as conditions for ending the embargo. They included closing Al Jazeera and other Qatar-funded news outlets, downgrading diplomatic ties with Iran, closing a Turkish military base in Qatar, and ending "interference" in other countries' internal affairs.
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