SAUDI ARABIA TO REOPEN QATAR EMBASSY IN COMING DAYS, SAUDI FM SAYS

Sat 16 January 2021:

Saudi’s foreign minister has said that the kingdom expects to re-open its embassy in Qatar in the coming days, following a US-backed detente last week in a three-year-old dispute between Arab states.

It is just a matter of logistics, Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan told journalists in Riyadh when asked about embassy reopenings.

Full diplomatic relations will resume, he added.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt imposed a diplomatic, trade and travel embargo on Qatar in mid-2017 accusing it of supporting terrorism. Qatar denied that and said the embargo was meant to undermine its sovereignty.

Riyadh on January 5 announced a breakthrough US-backed deal to end the row with Doha, to try to strengthen an Arab alliance against Iran.

The countries have opened up their air spaces to each other and some flights have resumed.