Gulf state leaders have signed an agreement ending their three-year diplomatic rift with Qatar at a summit in Saudi Arabia.
The agreement, which was brokered by Kuwait and the United States, officially ends the dispute that began in mid-2017 when a Saudi-led bloc severed diplomatic, trade and travel relations with Qatar.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt had accused Qatar of supporting Islamist militant groups, an accusation that Doha denies.
It is generally accepted that the anti-Qatar bloc was formed primarily to punish Qatar for its close relations with the international Muslim Brotherhood, as well as for Qatar’s growing energy independence due its natural gas production, its media influence through Al-Jazeera and its friendly relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran
