Saudi Arabia and Qatar are nearing a “preliminary deal” to end a three-plus year rift between the two Gulf nations, according to Bloomberg.
The report comes as Trump administration senior advisor and son-in-law to the president Jared Kushner is in the region working to resolve the dispute, which started in June 2017. The Trump administration is seeking foreign policy wins during its final days before the incoming Biden administration takes over on January 21st.
According to Bloomberg, the tentative agreement does not involve the three other Arab countries that also severed diplomatic and trade ties with Qatar in June 2017 — the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt. A fourth person told Bloomberg that a “broader realignment remained a long way off as the underlying issues, such as Doha’s relations with Tehran, remained unresolved.”
The potential breakthrough follows months of intense diplomacy mediated by Kuwait.
The Bloomberg report says the potential breakthrough deal “is likely to include reopening air space and land borders, an end to the information war Qatar and Saudi Arabia have waged and other confidence-building steps as part of a detailed plan to gradually rebuild relations,” citing two sources.
[Click here to read the full report from Bloomberg.com]
