Saudi king woos Qatari sheikh amid Gulf feud

A LITTLE-KNOWN Qatari sheikh has been thrust into the limelight as a Saudi Arabia-led bloc tries to wring concessions from his nation to end the political feud dividing the Persian Gulf.

Sheikh Abdullah Bin Ali Al-Thani, a descendant of Qatar’s founder, was welcomed warmly in Saudi Arabia by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, then jetted off to Morocco, where Saudi King Salman hosted him at his vacation spot in Tangier.

And while the Qatari government said the sheikh was on a personal visit, some media close to the alliance portrayed his meetings as a triumphant diplomatic effort.

Sheikh Abdullah said King Salman and his son agreed to open Qatar’s only land border, shut down on June 5, to allow Muslim pilgrims to travel to the holy city of Mecca. The king even offered to dispatch planes at his own expense to fly in others and set up an operations centre under the sheikh’s command to help Qataris entangled in the crisis.

Saudi Arabia and allies that severed diplomatic and transport links with Qatar in June have denied seeking regime change in Doha, making the emergence and frontpage treatment of the sheikh a surprising development.

Promoting him is probably part of a plan to add pressure on Qatari ruler Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, who has refused to capitulate to the bloc’s 13 conditions for ending the feud, said Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, a political analyst in the United Arab Emirates.