DOHA (Dispatches) – Qatar’s foreign minister says there has been small progress to resolve a 2-1/2 year dispute between the Persian Gulf state and its neighbors.
Asked whether there was progress at the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit held last week, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani told Reuters that there has been "small progress, just a little progress”.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut diplomatic and trade links with Qatar in June 2017, accusing it of backing terrorism. Qatar denies the charge and accuses its neighbors of seeking to curtail its sovereignty.
The quartet urged the Qatari government to comply with a list of demands that included severing ties with Iran and closing a Turkish military base in Qatar or face sanctions. Doha flatly rejected the demands and said it was being targeted because of the independent policies that it pursued.
Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani turned down an invitation by Saudi Arabia to attend the 40th GCC summit in Riyadh this month, naming Prime Minister Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani to lead the Qatari delegation to the annual meeting.
Despite earlier speculation about a possible thaw in Saudi relations with Qatar in the course of the talks, the summit came to an end with no progress made in their standoff.
Earlier this month, Qatar said attempts to diffuse tensions between the two countries had "moved from stalemate to progress.”
It seems that Riyadh changed its tone as a result of its failure both in the economic boycott of Qatar and in the military campaign against Yemen.