Withdrawn Gulf ambassadors to return to Doha within days

The ambassadors of the three Gulf States, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain, who were withdrawn on March 5, are to return to their offices in Doha within days, the Turkish news agency Anadolu said on Friday night.

Anadolu cited an informed source from one of the Gulf States as saying: “The ambassadors of Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain are to return to Doha within the next few days.”

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: “The recent meeting of representatives of the Gulf States and the direct mediation of Kuwait played a big part in restoring relations and ending the disputes.”

In an unprecedented measure, the three countries had earlier withdrawn their ambassadors from Doha, accusing it of interference in their internal affairs. Doha denied these accusations.

Observers strongly believe the main reason for the action was Qatar’s refusal to join in the campaign against the Muslim Brotherhood.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE are the main countries that supported and subsidised the military coup against the elected Muslim Brotherhood president in Egypt, Dr Muhammad Morsi.

The UAE was severely criticised by human rights and other NGOs for arresting Muslim Brotherhood members and sentencing them for long periods in prison.

On its part, Saudi Arabia has branded Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organisation and arrested a number of scholars accused of affiliation to it.

Recently, the Saudi authorities ordered the withdrawal of the books of the well-known Kuwaiti management trainer Dr Tareq Al-Suwaidan and the Saudi preacher Salman Al-Awda from bookstores over accusations of affiliation to Muslim Brotherhood.