Saudi prince on healing mission

Dubai: Saudi Arabia’s crown prince is in Qatar on Thursday for the first time since the kingdom rallied other Arab states to end their yearslong rift and embargo on the small Gulf state.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to Qatar marks his third stop in the region this week as the Saudi heir to the throne tours the six U.S.-allied Gulf Arab states that make up the Gulf Cooperation Council. His meetings with Arab rulers are aimed at fortifying the kingdom’s alliances as rival Iran resumes nuclear negotiations with world powers.

His visit to Qatar is particularly significant because last year at this time the neighboring states were in the midst of a diplomatic standoff that had frayed familial ties in the region, fractured the close-knit GCC and sparked churlish bars in state-linked media as accusations of hacking and damaging leaks swirled.

Angered over Qatar’s support for Islamist groups like the Muslim Brotherhood and its ties with Iran, the four nations of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt severed ties with Qatar in mid-2017, sealing their airspace to Qatari flights, shuttering Qatar’s only land border and expelling Qatari citizens. The move pushed Qatar closer to Turkey and Iran, which rushed to support the tinybut- wealthy nation as it navigated the diplomatic assault.

The regional standoff concluded earlier this year with an agreement signed by Arab leaders in Saudi Arabia. Ultimately, Qatar did not give into a list of demands the quartet had made, including that it shutter its Al Jazeera news channel and handover wanted Islamists residing in exile.

Rather, Qatar has emerged a powerful mediator in the region. As host to the Mideast’s largest U.S. airbase, Qatar played an outsized role during the U.S.-led evacuation from Afghanistan over the summer and has played a key role in facilitating contact with the country’s Taliban rulers following the closure of Western embassies there. -(AP)