It all depends on the negotiations…

Wondering how long the ban of Qatari aircraft from UAE airspace will last? How many weeks it will be until the Saudi-Qatar land borders open up again?

Well, the UAE’s Minister of State and Foreign Affairs has said that it could be years, according to a report in Gulf Business:

“Qatar will realise that this is a new state of affairs and isolation can last years. If they want to be isolated because of their perverted view of what their political role is, then let them be isolated,” he said.

“They are still in a phase of denial and anger,” he added. “There must be some people who are wise in Qatar and who will prevail, hopefully within the ruling family. This is not about regime change, it is about behaviour change.”

You can read all about how the first few weeks of the situation played out here. 

According to Gulf Business Qatar has said that the ending of the land, air and sea “blockade” is a pre-condition for them to begin talks and negotiations.

Kuwait’s ruler, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, is leading the GCC mediation efforts, leading discussion between Qatar and Bahrain, the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

In a Ramadan speech Sheikh Sabah said that he hoped the final days of the Muslim Holy Month would create “the atmosphere for resolving unfortunate differences and ending the rift through dialogue and communication” in the Gulf.

You can read the UAE Ambassador to the US’ description as to why this is happening now here, and Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs has also spoken about the situation.

Adel bin Ahmed Al Jubeir has said that this month’s moves from Saudi Arabia and the UAE towards Qatar are a result of “the country’s failure to adhere to repeated requests, set out in 2013 and 2014, to end its support of terrorism and extremism, and involvement in conflicts in the region”.

“We consider Qatar an ally in the Gulf Cooperation Council, GCC, countries and we do not seek to harm Qatari citizens, but the current situation must be corrected. Doha cannot continue its current policy and must stop financing terrorism,” he told Saudi’s official news agency.

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Image: Getty