Saudi Arabia Steps up Efforts to Resolve Dispute with Qatar

The move to end the Gulf states’ blockade of their gas-rich neighbor is being perceived as an attempt by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to curry favor with the incoming Biden administration and deliver a parting present to Donald Trump.

Prince Mohammed, the kingdom’s de facto leader, forged close ties with the Trump White House, and the president stood by the crown prince as Riyadh grappled with its worst diplomatic crisis in decades.

But the incoming administration of president-elect Joe Biden is expected to be far cooler towards the young royal who has drawn widespread criticism from Democrats over the killing of Khashoggi, Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen, and the detention of scores of activists, businessmen, and senior royals.

“This is a gift for Biden,” said an adviser to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

He added that Prince Mohammed “feels like he’s in the line of fire” after Mr. Biden’s election victory and wants a deal with Qatar to “signal he is willing and ready to take steps”.

Ali Shihabi, a Saudi analyst close to the royal court, said the Saudi leadership had for months been “open to put this issue to bay."

“For some time, they have been working on closing many hot files, and clearly this is one,” he said.

The Qatar dispute is thought to be one of the more tractable issues for Prince Mohammed to resolve.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, and Egypt cut diplomatic and transport links with Qatar in June 2017, alleging that Doha sponsored Islamist groups and was too close to Iran.

Qatar, the world’s richest nation in per capita terms, denied the allegations and all sides have until now refused to make concessions, resisting Washington’s pressure to resolve the crisis.

The Trump administration has been concerned that the dispute weakens the Arab alliance it has sought to forge against  Iran and is frustrated that Tehran benefits financially as the embargo has meant flights to and from Qatar are forced to use Iranian airspace.

"The latest talks were being mediated by the US and Kuwait with the aim of laying the foundations for direct negotiations between Riyadh and Doha," said a diplomat briefed on the talks.

"Qatar wants to ensure there are preconditions before any bilateral talks. These could include a “confidence-building” measure such as the lifting of the air embargo," the diplomat said.

Another possibility would be to allow free movement of Qatari citizens to the countries that imposed the embargo, although Doha would want guarantees about their welfare.