Cairo: The UAE on Tuesday hailed links with Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, members of an Arab bloc that boycotted Qatar more than two years ago amid a diplomatic row.
UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr Anwar Gargash met Saudi Foreign Minister Ebrahim Al Asaf and Bahrain’s top diplomat Shaikh Khalid Al Khalifa in Cairo. Dr Gargash called the meeting “wonderful”.
“Friendliness and sincere affinity are what remain. We are lucky to have our brothers in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain,” he said in a tweet, without giving details.
The three ministers were in Egypt, attending a meeting of the Arab League foreign ministers. On Tuesday, Dr Gargash conferred with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukry whose country is also a member of the anti-Qatar quartet.
In June 2017, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt broke off diplomatic and transportation links with Qatar over its support for terrorism.
The four countries presented to Qatar a list of demands to end the dispute. They include stopping support for radical groups, downgrading ties with Iran and shutting down the Doha-based Al Jazeera television network seen as a mouthpiece of the Muslim Brotherhood, which has been designated as a terrorist organisation. Doha rejected the demands, saying they infringed on its sovereignty.
Earlier this week, Saudi Arabia said that complying with the demands is the key to solving the crisis.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE are also co-leading a military campaign in Yemen against Iran-alliged Al Houthi militants.