UAE to restore Qatar trade and travel links ‘within a week’ after row ends

UAE to restore Qatar trade and travel links ‘within a week’ after row ends

Publishedduration43 minutes ago

image copyrightEPA

image captionUAE Vice-President Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum signed an agreement earlier this week

The United Arab Emirates could re-open trade and travel links with Qatar within a week under a deal that ended a bitter dispute between the Gulf states.

However, Emirati Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash said some issues would take a longer time to fix.

The UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt imposed an embargo against Qatar in 2017. They accused it of supporting terrorism, which it denied.

The neighbours agreed to restore full diplomatic ties at a summit on Tuesday.

A joint declaration brokered by Kuwait and the United States pledged to "restore collaboration“ among the six members of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC), but it did not give any timelines.

At a virtual news conference on Thursday, Mr Gargash stressed that the UAE was "behind this deal, and positive about the prospect of re-establishing relations with Qatar“.

"The return of movement [of people] and trade between the two countries... will be within a week of the signing," he said.

But he added: "Some issues are easier to fix and some others will take a longer time.

"We have a very good start... but we have issues with