DOHA: Qatar’s Prime Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani will attend the May 30 Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) emergency summit in Makkah, Al Jazeera has reported.
The summit, one of the first high-level meetings with blockading nations since the embargo was imposed nearly two years ago, is expected to focus on regional security issues amid soaring tension between Iran and the United States as well as its Gulf allies.
The Saudi King had invited Qatar’s Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani earlier this week for the summit but the latter is unlikely to be present at the meeting. Instead, the Prime Minister will come face to face with top officials from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and other countries.
The invitation to Qatar’s leaders suggests the Saudi-led blockading countries may have softened their stance against Doha on the blockade which coincided with the rise to power of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Meanwhile, reacting to prime minister’s participation in the summit, Lolwah Al Khater, spokesperson for Qatar’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs, tweeted: “The State of Qatar, which has never lost its active and positive participation in the Arab, Islamic and international spheres, once again won the supreme interest of the region over the relations between the two countries.”
The Prime Minister’s participation in the Saudi summit is seen as the biggest sign of rapprochement between the two countries since the blockade started two years ago. This is the first high-level contact between the two countries for more than two years.
“A possible US-backed thaw in Qatari-Saudi relations has been signalled by Qatar’s prime minister agreeing to attend a major summit in Makkah on alleged Iranian aggression in the region,” The Guardian reported.
The summit will be held on Thursday in Makkah. A Qatari plane carrying one of its diplomats was allowed to land in Saudi for the first time in two years on Monday.
Saudi airspace remains closed for all other Qatari flights, as it has been since the start of the boycott.
In June 2017, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) cut off ties with Qatar and imposed a land, sea, and air blockade on the Gulf state, accusing Doha of supporting “terrorism”.
Qatar has repeatedly rejected the charges as baseless.