The UAE and Qatar reopen embassies as Gulf Arab relations improve after a yearslong rift
Dubai (AP): The United Arab Emirates and Qatar have announced the reopening of their embassies on Monday following a yearslong rift over Qatar's support of Islamist groups.
The two countries issued statements saying the Qatari Embassy in Abu Dhabi and a Qatari Consulate in Dubai, as well as an Emirati Embassy in Qatar's capital, Doha, had resumed operations. The statements did not say if ambassadors were in place or if the missions were open to the public.
The two countries' foreign ministers spoke by phone to congratulate one another on the reopening of the diplomatic missions, Qatar said.
The UAE joined Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt in imposing a boycott and blockade of Qatar in 2017 over its support for Islamist groups across the Middle East that gained power immediately after the Arab Spring protests. The other Arab countries in the Persian Gulf view such groups as terrorists - including Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, which won free and fair elections.
The unprecedented diplomatic crisis among the normally friendly Gulf Arab countries initially sparked fears of armed conflict. But Qatar's gas riches, and close ties to Turkey and Iran, largely insulated it from the economic sanctions, and relations slowly thawed.
The boycott was officially lifted in January 2021. Late last year, Qatar welcomed visiting leaders from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the UAE as it hosted soccer's World Cup.
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Chadha, others wouldn't have left AAP had it followed 'right' path: Anna Hazare
Mumbai (PTI): Social activist Anna Hazare has said Raghav Chadha and six other Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha members would not have quit the party had it followed the "right" path.
"Everyone has the right to hold an opinion in a democracy. They (Chadha and others) must have faced some trouble, which is why they left," Hazare told reporters on Friday in Ahilyanagar district of Maharashtra.
AAP Rajya Sabha members Raghav Chadha and Sandeep Pathak addressed a joint press conference in Delhi on Friday, announcing their exit from the Arvind Kejriwal-led party to join the BJP.
Chadha claimed that nearly two-thirds of AAP's Rajya Sabha members had quit the party and would function as a separate faction.
"It is their (AAP leadership’s) fault. Had that party followed the right way, they would not have left," Hazare said.
Hazare reiterated that Chadha and others must have faced difficulties within AAP, and that is why they left. "Had the party gone in the right direction, they would not have quit the party," he added.
"There must be some or the other reason (for their leaving AAP). In a democracy, every person has a view about where to stay and leave," Hazare said.
The Chadha-led exodus marks a significant setback for the Kejriwal-led party since its formation in 2012, which followed the momentum of Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption movement.
