Reports say Qatar FM met senior Saudi officials in the capital during a visit last month.
Qatar‘s foreign minister made an unannounced visit to the Saudi capital, Riyadh, last month, according to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and Reuters News Agency, a move that may signal an apparent thaw in the two-year-old regional diplomatic dispute.
During his visit, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani met senior Saudi officials and made an offer to end the rift between Qatar and its blockading neighbours, an Arab official told the WSJ on Thursday.
It was unclear if the visit included a meeting with Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
This was the highest-level visit by a Qatari official to the kingdom since May when Qatar’s prime minister attended an Arab summit in Mecca.
Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt imposed a land, air and sea blockade on Qatar in June 2017 over accusations of its support for “terrorism”. Qatar has repeatedly denied the accusations.
The boycotting nations set 13 demands for lifting the boycott, including the closing down of Al Jazeera Media Network, shuttering a Turkish military base and reducing ties with Iran.
Saudi Arabia is weighing Qatar’s proposal, the unnamed Arab official told the WSJ.
Source: Al–jazeera
