An informed Gulf source with inside knowledge of the discussions that took place at the Gulf Ministerial Council in Jeddah this weekend told Arabi21 news website that the results of the meetings were positive regarding Qatar.
According to the source, “Saudi Arabia mediated with the UAE and has shifted from the position of being a party to the conflict to the position of a mediator”. However, he added that, “the UAE was angry because it sought an escalation with Doha.”
As for the Saudi motives behind this new stance, the source explained that “Saudi Arabia is seeing a more comprehensive picture of the region,” pointing out that it is associating the events in Syria with those in Iraq and those in Yemen, and that it “does not wish to fragment the Gulf Cooperation Council” any further, whereas “the UAE is focusing on the narrow enmities with the Muslim Brotherhood, Qatar and Libya.”
As for the reasons behind the change in the Saudi position, the Gulf source pointed to what he called the “negative Egyptian intervention in Syria,” which has annoyed Riyadh. This is in addition to the support Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi lent to former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Malki, especially as the latter kept annoying the Kingdom with his numerous critical statements accusing it of supporting terrorism.
Within the same context, the source noted that the Saudis were disturbed by the Egyptian Foreign Minister’s visit to Baghdad soon after Al-Sisi took office.
The Gulf source concluded by saying that “there are strong indications that Saudi Arabia now desires to arrange matters in a positive manner with Qatar.”