The idea of Saudi exit from the war has many reasons but the real problem is how a way out will look like. The other question is the Saudi leader was thinking of ending the war much before four Gulf countries under his countries leadership severed diplomatic ties with Qatar blaming it for financing terrorism. Many believe it was a big mistake mainly influenced by visiting US President Donald Trump to Saudi Arabia. In fact Trump took credit of isolating Qatar on return to Washington saying it was a ‘fall out’ of his visit to the region. But Saudi Arabia was under intense pressure to end the war from the western allies and particularly countries like USA, UK and Canada as they were facing trouble to supply weapons to the Kingdom under new contracts as public criticism against the war was running high in those countries.
The new crown prince, who is increasingly taking the mantle of his old father King Salman bin Abdul Aziz is also reportedly taking move to open ties with Iraq snapped in 1990 after Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait and with the arch foe Iran in the region A senior Iraqi minister recently visited Riyadh and both sides decided to open border and resume trade, The Iraqi minister also visited Tehran and conveyed the Saudi wish to Iranian leaders. Meanwhile a senior Iranian minister has also visited UAE to normalize ties and the manifold movements amply show the sign of ending rivalry and distrust among the Gulf countries and restore peace in their relation.
We are pleased to note such initiatives by the young Saudi leader as he could have understood that war and isolation of one country from another is not the solution to regional problems. Many can also hope that the blockade against Qatar will go in due time and it may not be too much to believe that talks behind the scene may be taking place. It must be pointed out that the governments in Muslim countries find intra-Arab rivalries highly embarrassing to take one side or the other. The Muslims all over the world also don’t take such rivalries easily and feel highly disappointed. We see the Saudi initiative highly appreciable and hope peace and tranquility will return to the region soon.
