Qatar and UAE in process of restoring diplomatic ties

Special Correspondent
Special Correspondent
A sign indicating a route to Qatar embassy is seen in Manama, Bahrain, June 5, 2017

Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are restoring diplomatic ties and reopening embassies, officials said on Tuesday.

The step comes more than two years after Arab states ended a boycott of Doha.

“At present, the activation of diplomatic ties, which will include the reopening of embassies, is under process between both countries,” a UAE official said in a statement in response to a question from Reuters.

Qatar’s international media office, in a statement, confirmed that “work is underway to reopen the respective embassies as soon as possible.”

“Regarding the opening of embassies between the two countries, I think it will be in the coming weeks,” Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson Majid Al-Ansari told a briefing.

A Gulf official said embassies were expected to reopen with new ambassadors in their posts by mid-June. A fourth source said diplomatic relations would be fully restored within weeks.

The restoration of ties comes amid a broader regional push for reconciliation with Iran and Saudi Arabia agreeing last month to re-establish relations after years of hostility, which threatened instability in the Gulf and stoked the war in Yemen.

Several Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia and Egypt, have moved to end a decade-long isolation of Syria, which had been boycotted over its crackdown on protests in 2011 — violence that led to a protracted civil war.

In Yemen, the Houthi movement and Saudi Arabia held a round of peace talks this week, exchanging hundreds of detainees, a significant peace-building move in the conflict. Further peace talks are expected soon.

In mid-2017, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt severed all ties with Qatar over accusations it supported terrorism, a reference to Islamist groups, and was cosying up to Iran, accusations Doha denied.

Riyadh and Cairo were the first to reappoint ambassadors to Doha in 2021 after a Saudi-led deal to end the dispute, while Bahrain last week announced it would restore diplomatic ties.

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