S. Arabia, UAE and Bahrain to send recalled diplomats back to Qatar

By Ahmed al-Masri

CAIRO

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain had agreed to return their ambassadors to Doha, the Doha-based news channel Al Jazeera said late on Sunday.

Gulf leaders meeting in the Saudi capital Riyadh had also agreed to hold the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit, slated for December in Doha, according to schedule, the channel added.

It did not, however, specify a date for the return of the ambassadors of the three Gulf states to Qatar.

A meeting of five Gulf leaders started in Riyadh earlier on Sunday in the absence of Oman.

The meeting focused on Gulf issues as well as means of healing Gulf rifts.

Relations between Qatar, on one hand, and Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, on the other, worsened earlier this year when the three countries accused Doha of interfering in their affairs.

In March, they recalled their ambassadors from Doha in an unprecedented move that reflected the enormity of Gulf divisions.

Many observers, however, linked the rift to Doha's perceived support for ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi and the latter's Muslim Brotherhood group, which remains the target of a relentless security crackdown by Egypt's military-backed authorities.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE were the first two Arab countries to welcome Morsi's ouster by the army last year following opposition protests.

Earlier in the day, Kuwaiti parliament speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim expressed hopes that efforts exerted by Sheikh the Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, would heal inter-Gulf rifts.

The Riyadh meeting comes in the wake of a Gulf tour by Sheikh al-Sabah, during which he visited Bahrain, Qatar and the UAE.

www.aa.com.tr/en