WASHINGTON, 16 October, 2020, (TON): In a meeting with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said while security concerns must be addressed, a path to ending rift may be in ‘relatively near future’.

Saudi FM signaled progress maybe under way towards resolving the three year old rift with its Gulf neighbour Qatar.

Saudi Arabia, with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Egypt disengaged diplomatic and trade relations with Qatar and imposed a sea, land and air blockade on the gas-rich country.

On Thursday in a virtual discussion hosted by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Saudi FM Prince Faisal bin Farhan said “We are committed to finding a solution, “If we can find a way forward to address the legitimate security concerns… which have driven us to make the decisions we have taken, that will be good news for the region”. 

Number of past attempts to end the dispute were unsuccessful, with Qatar rejecting demands from nations blocking the blockade, including shutting down Al Jazeera news outlets, severing ties with Islamist groups, limiting ties with the Iran and the expulsion of Turkish troops stationed in the country.

The four countries blocking the blockade have accused Qatar of supporting “terrorism” and interfering in their internal affairs for years. Doha has also been accused of being too close to its regional rival, Iran but Qatar has strongly denied these allegations.

Prince Faisal visited Washington for a US-Saudi strategic dialogue at the State Department that included discussion on relations with Israel, the US ‘maximum pressure’ campaign against Iran and the war in Yemen.