Bahrain and Qatar on Wednesday agreed to restore diplomatic relations.
Bahrain had been the last holdout of four Arab nations that imposed a boycott on Qatar in 2017.
They were angered by Qatar’s alleged support for Islamist groups that rose to power in some countries following the 2011 Arab Spring protests, which the other Gulf nations viewed as terrorist organizations.
Photo: EPA
The boycott was lifted at the start of 2021, and Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt have restored ties with Qatar since then, with top leaders paying official visits in the past few months.
Bahrain and Qatar each issued official statements announcing the decision to restore relations following a meeting between their delegations at the Riyadh headquarters of the Gulf Cooperation Council, a six-nation bloc of which both are members.
CUTTING ALL LINKS
The four nations had severed all relations with Qatar, and at the height of the crisis there was even talk in local media of digging a trench along the 87km border between Qatar and Saudi Arabia, and filling it with nuclear waste.
However, the boycott had little effect on Qatar’s economy.
The tiny Gulf country, which hosted the soccer World Cup last year, is one of the wealthiest countries on Earth, owing to its vast natural gas reserves.
Turkey, which is also friendly to some groups deemed Islamist, stepped in to aid Qatar during the crisis.
Last month, Saudi Arabia and its main regional rival, Iran, agreed to restore diplomatic ties, which had been severed in 2016, in an agreement brokered by China.
The US welcomed “any efforts to de-escalate tensions in the Middle East region,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at the time.
Additional reporting by AFP
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