tunnel designer. al-jazeera. qatar's amir heads to saudi arabia for a golf summit after a breakthrough in a 3 year long just views. the whole romany watching al-jazeera life my headquarters here and also coming up england and scotland going to another lockdown to contain covert 19 as hospital struggle to cope with the surge and infections also. we're going to fight like hell

i'll tell you i the battle for control of the u.s. senate last minute rallies are held in georgia in a runoff that will decide the balance of power in congress. and a change of plan in the new york stock exchange decides not to remove the shares of 3 chinese telecommunication companies. welcome to the program leaders from across the gulf are arriving in saudi arabia ahead of a key regional summit that could see an end to the illegal blockade of qatar within the past hour planes carrying delegations from by her ain the united arab emirates and kuwait have touched down in saudi arabia the mirror qatar is also heading to the summit it follows a move by saudi to open its sea and land borders to. cata what's being seen as

a huge step towards resolving a diplomatic rift what we have several correspondents covering this story right now john hendren is in washington d.c. . is that the catalyst saudi land border will be speaking to them in just a few minutes but 1st let's cross over to hashem harbor who's covered this story extensively just to bring our viewers who are joining us hashim up to speed about why this meeting the 41st g.c.c. meeting is so significant it all hinges on a statement by saudi arabia less than what 24 hours ago indeed what happened in 2017 when. united arab emirates behind in impose a land sea and embargo on qatar triggered the worst diplomatic crisis in the g.c.c. region to the point where people really question the g.c.c. itself and where they would be able to recover from the blow or the blockade today is an attempt for all the leaders of the g.c.c.

to mend fences and turn the chapter of that episode of the 5th of june 2017 the man you should be seeing right now coming out of this plane is the emir of kuwait. whose country has been instrumental in mediating the crisis former job but it was the man who has been traveling to all the countries saying that it's about time for you leaders to set aside your differences i'm all for the american steps in the european steps in the failed. and the emir of kuwait has been committed to solving the crisis had passed away. a few months ago before being able to watch the fruits of what he has been working hard to achieve happen today which is the moment where all the leaders of the g.c.c. will agree on solving the own differences what is definitely going to happen today will be quite significant and will have far reaching consequences on the region

they were talking about the immediate problems though they were having in the past and then i think they will agree on tackling the core issues later in the future because this is not the moment to talk about everything and saw all the problems because you won't be able to solve all the problems there are some huge complex problems that have to shelve until after a few weeks from now but today when all the leaders come together make the agreement and knowns of fish to live the lifting of the blockade is going to be a quite significant moment for sandi arabia for the time particular and also for the g.c.c. countries and of course hashem it's going to perhaps some of those blockading countries we talk about side arabia heading that group which includes bahrain egypt and the united arab emirates bahrain and the united arab emirates are not sending

their heads of state to this meeting not also sends a very important message to saudi arabia as well as to qatar and we also understand that most likely egypt is standing its minister of foreign affairs shakuri it was obvious from yesterday the muted the reaction from the united arab emirates bahrain and egypt. what happened gives you an indication that they are not really happy about what happened they were looking forward to see massive concessions coming from a qatar to move forward the decision by sunday arabia to lift the blockade unilaterally yesterday to start with. i think is quite a huge moment and what is going to happen today is that you will see the emirate is the behavior of the egyptians talking to crown prince mohammed bin segment about what happened yesterday and what are the indications that tomorrow we're going to have stronger relations on the other hand it would be extremely interesting to see what happens in the near future between qatar and egypt egypt being the most

populous nation in the arab world one of the most popular powerful countries for decades in this part of the world that could give us an indication of whether we're going to see a strong solid permanent solution to the g.c.c. crisis for the time being at this explains why the general sentiment here in qatar this is an extraordinary moment breakthrough is that the qataris are confident the moment they are building bridges with the saudis and the saudis because being the most powerful nation in the g.c.c. will use its own influence to leverage to convince behind the united arab emirates and the egyptians that you know what happened in 2017 should be a term chapter because we won't be able to move forward we have huge problems internal and external and it's about time to deal with the new white house administration which is going to take over in a few weeks from now to do that 1st of all we need to solve the most immediate

problem that we have been grappling with for almost now 3 years and a half which is the g.c.c. crisis and i think when you in about few moments from now you will see the emir of qatar. that moment where the emir of qatar to me than the along with crown prince mohammed bin will give us a strong indication about exactly what is going to happen in today in inside the arabia and the upcoming days among the g.c.c. nations it's an extraordinary moment and i think a certain moment of national pride for kuwait who. is a small nation there has played an extremely important role in mediating the crisis because we have to remind our viewers that without this mediation it would have been extremely possible to build bridges with those dishes and if the crisis was going to continue it could have easily and of the the whole rationale behind the

g.c.c. the decision was suddenly seen as completely disconnected from reality irrelevant for its own people because they were saying you haven't been even able to convene come together and solve a problem between you let alone your concern about widgets not powers expanding the m for ones like turkey like iran solving the problems of instability a war in yemen war in syria and war in libya today is the moment for the g.c.c. leaders to come together and move forward to do that 1st of all they would have to say it's about time to turn the chapter of the g.c.c. crisis but with saudi arabia the leader of the g.c.c. region taking that decision yesterday about lifting the embargo we're likely to see the united arab emirates behind is of taking the same decision and moving forward and this explains why what we are watching right now the gathering of the gulf nations is one of the most important moments in many many years in this part of the

world and they will definitely have far reaching consequences not only in each nation on its own but definitely on the region because who ever comes forward in the next few in the upcoming weeks to talk about geopolitics or moving forward will have one problem which has been solved. thank you i'm sure of course the live pictures we are seeing are of the emir of kuwait in michigan who are full sub are being greeted by the crown prince of saudi arabia moment been some are of course we'll continue to watch and we are awaiting the emir of qatar as plane to arrive in . port there in saudi arabia let's cross over closer to home perhaps to the cat our saudi border mohammed valor standing by for us but you might say the wind has been taken out of the sails really where you are at the border because coded

restrictions really perhaps aren't going to show us any movement across that border at the moment have you seen any any movement at all. not. where i stand here you can see behind me the main crossing and the only crossing the border crossing between saudi arabia and qatar it has been like this for 3 years now and we've been here since early morning today no vehicle no people have crossed this border crossing either to saudi arabia or to qatar and we understand we haven't got actually the at the the explanation from the people here in the crossing but we understand that it's going to take time before they are really ready for that because as you mentioned cove it has its own aesthetic sions and its own formalities we haven't seen any of those formalities being taken here or prepared we haven't seen doctors who haven't seen anything about quarantine

anything about tests we know we know that these booths behind me are and we asked the policeman the year they told us they are ready but beyond that and more than that we don't have any other information about what the qataris are planning here on this border when are they going to receive the 1st people from any of the 2 sides and we also don't know if they are waiting probably for the signing of the official signing of the agreement and for each country to inform its own citizens about what's going to happen and how they will be allowed to cross under what kind of preparations and formalities and paperwork they should be they should have on them before they come to the border crossing this is the the the crucial economic artery link in saudi arabia and and qatar and it is the only water crossing between qatar and any other country because saudi arabia is the only country that has land. borders with qatar so it's

very interesting and when we see people moving here crossing into each direction that will be the real sign on the ground that things have been. really changed we know about the impact of the embargo that took place so that was imposed on cattle 3 years ago how the economy has suffered not only in qatar but also in other countries but particularly in qatar because it imported before the blockade started it used to import about 80 percent of its of its foreign x. foreign imports through this border crossing but now qatar says it has it has succeeded in overcoming that situation that dependency on the outside world particularly on the g.c.c. countries and it's the big question now is when this border is open what is qatar really going to need to import from the g.c.c. countries anymore. the economy is not the only point here and it is not the most

important point here the most important point is the human links the social fabric between the communities the gulf communities in qatar and the and the other g.c.c. countries we know about the historic ties the same language the same religion the same customs and these people some of the families have been disconnected separated that's the human side of this is very important and that's what we are waiting to see changing. thanks very much and as we finish our conversation with you we can see the qatar airways plane arriving we assume with the emir of qatar sheikh to mean that how adult tunney of course head of state here and of course waiting to meet his counterparts up the 41st g.c.c. meeting it will take a few moments for that plane to taxi in to arrive at the terminal and we will look forward to seeing who greets him we assume it will be the crown prince of saudi arabia but sir the pictures will tell us the real story once it actually arrives

the delegation from qatar there led by the emir has now landed at port in saudi arabia let's cross over to john hendren our correspondent in washington d.c. and as. mentioned a few moments ago john the position of the kuwaitis as negotiators and mediators you might say was also much behind the scenes by the u.s. who have been pushing saudi arabia and certainly the other blockading countries to move all this issue and move soon before president trump leaves office. that's right with 15 days left to go in the trumpet ministration this was a feather they very much wanted to put in their cap they had assigned jared cushion or the president's advisor and son in law is broad portfolio but a huge part of that was peace in the middle east now he wasn't able to achieve.

agreements between israel and the rest of the region or israel and palestine but this is something that the administration found to be achievable after 4 years jared kushner had very little to show for this broad portfolio he was given and the president of course has had his economic gains wiped out all of the deregulatory moves that he pursued are likely to be reversed in a biden administration so this was something that the troubled ministration very much wanted we are told that jared cushion or was on his way practically to saudi arabia the plan was to leave on sunday night but that a last minute miscommunication between the countries caused a delay he remained further and continued with telephone negotiations we have a statement from the state department here essentially lauding the agreement saying a resolution of the wider 3 year dispute between the cortef and guitar is in the interest of all g. c. member g. c. c.

members as well as the interest of the united states the last thing the u.s. really wanted was another conflict in the middle east and mediating it is something like a camp david moment for president trump that was of course the agreement between egypt and israel brokered by president jimmy carter in 1978 the trick here is going to be the handoff because the initial agreement in principle comes with one u.s. administration doing the brokering as you say they're pressuring saudi arabia but then it's going to be the biden administration that follows through and administration that is indeed much. more international is there's no reason to believe that they wouldn't want to pursue this agreement and carry out all the subsequent details but the trick is that a new group of negotiators will have to come in and that the trick in american follow through will they be able to hand this off from one administration to the next right now with just 15 days to go of course we don't know how the as you say

the by the administration is going to deal with but it has been looking for signs from saudi arabia but it's willing to move on in trying to pull. such as the gulf crisis it's also looking to see how they get a deal with each other when it comes to issues of both israel and iran and as well the growing influence of turkey within the region. that's right the biden administration is likely to be much more critical in its relationship of saudi arabia many people in that the incoming administration have been highly critical of the killing of jamal khashoggi by by saudi arabia. and it is very likely that we're not going to we're going to see a much more transactional relationship between the by administration saudi arabia and the rest of the region because the biden ministration isn't really relying or so the early signs suggest on the kind of personal interaction that you had between

president trump and the leaders of saudi arabia and other leaders in the region it is more likely the biden ministration is going to have a list of tangible goals and will rely so much on those personal relationships in order to determine where u.s. interests lie in the region. john 100 thanks very much john 100 correspondent there in washington d.c. let's cross back over to our senior correspondent has been following the story for several years and of course hashem you know as we see the cutter always play not quite yet it still does the flags but slowly taxiing towards the terminal it can't be ignored that qatar's position under this particular amir has become much stronger whether people agree with that statement or not because what was a small gulf country physically and still is has become quite a heavyweight in terms of its positioning both in its relationship with other gulf

cooperation council members but more importantly with other regional capital such as teheran and ankara and that relationship plays a very pivotal role in the way that arab countries have to deal with each other and more importantly the way that gulf countries now have to talk to each other. indeed and this explains why the what we're watching right now in airports is quite a remarkable moment that people will remember for years and years to come the emir of qatar just i mean been hammered and he was going to come out of the plane and talk to the crown prince of saudi arabia mohamed pencilled bat and this is where the expectations in this part of the world are he usually sees something that could finally put an end to the blockade to the worst political twice in the region in many decades i was in saudi arabia in may when the emir of qatar was there

during the 1st visit of trump to overseas visit of president donald trump and him met with the g.c.c. leaders and the general sentiment at that particular moment that this could that's stance of the unity will pave the way for many developments in the regions in the region weeks later it was the crisis that plunged the g.c.c. in an uncharted territory and people still grappling with the impact of what happened back on the 5th of june 2070 now there's an optimism is which is prevailing and this explains why the emir of qatar is heading the qatari delegation and attending this particular summit which the sandy crown prince yesterday said is going to be a moment for the g.c.c. to provide and show a united stance that could have far reaching consequences not only on the g.c.c. bloc but also on all the world why this is crucial we have to remind our viewers

that the. emir of qatar is leading a nation that has been under a blockade for more than 3 years his country now has emerged more resilient from that particular blockade with political influence which is expanding worldwide and also building strong connections with different countries in different continents but today is going to be a moment where the emir of qatar along with assad to do this you will come together sit together and say you know what we have our own problems everybody knows about the political problems between saudi arabia qatar let's face the reality and this more forward they will talk about some of those issues that will make this agreement today that announcement is going to be a huge development but later think in the coming weeks they will have to come together and talk about the core issues you have wide range of issues between the 2

countries that they would have to talk together about they would have to talk about iran and where both countries stand they would have to talk about turkey they would have to talk about syria they would have to talk about libya they would have to talk about. political islam they will have to talk about what they see as the qatar support for the muslim brotherhood they will have to talk about how to solve the issues in egypt they will have to talk about whether the saudis along with the bahrain is the emirates is that the egyptians will sit together with the with the qataris and say you know what we genuinely believe that there is a chance for all of us to solve all those problems and move forward i personally believe that you will see many problems continuing for the upcoming weeks and this explains why the behind the send the crown prince said amendment how this explains why the image is sent vice president mahmoud abbas should. this explains why the egyptians are sending so mr crewe the foreign minister and we're not seeing president of the foot because i think they were taken by

a massive surprise yesterday with that announcement by the crown prince of saudi arabia that finally the blockade is going to be lifted and the sun is moving forward. turn that chapter this moment we are going to see right now with the emir of qatar coming out of this plane talking to crown prince what. could be the moment that millions in this part of the world in the g.c.c. countries have been waiting for it is not going to be only about 2 nations nations to neighboring countries mending fences not allowing the differences moving forward and setting aside their own problems no it is going to be about the beginning of a stronger more united g.c.c. bloc and you can if you can have that we have impact on business economy finance you will see a vibrant optimistic mood prevailing in this part of the world then take it further you can easily move forward and tackle the different other regional problems how to

deal with iran how to deal with turkey how to solve the crisis which has been going on for more than 10 years in places like syria and libya united strong g.c.c. bloc. is what everybody has been looking forward to today in a low or a city in the midst of nowhere in saudi arabia could be the moment where we see all those things been done solved and brought forward it's quite an extraordinary moment so hate indeed it is now and as the stairs make their way to the plane we wait for the emir to descend let's just talk very briefly also about the role of qatar potentially being a mediator because you say that it's going to lots of problems are going to show their ugly face over the next few weeks and months that it's going to take time to heal you've got a shield that before you can then move forward whether you move forward as the g.c.c. or as independently one of the big issues that are plaguing the region the moment

is iran its relationship with europe its relationship with the u.s. its relationship with its other arab brothers as it is often described is qatar now placed to be you might say an equivalent mediator to kuwait in these sorts of scenarios. so hey you're absolutely right the g.c.c. crisis has been a shifting moment for everybody in this part of the world and for qatar it was a moment for the country to think about itself about how to move forward and what kind of realignments it would have to build and one of the things it did building and nurturing stronger relations with iran that is something which has turned into an asset the qataris can use in the near future and say to the saudis for example you know what we do understand that you and the iranians think of yourselves as the protectors of sunni and shia islam the problem with the sectarian is that in the region it has crippled all new to bring about peaceful

way out to many problems including syria one of the problems about syria is because you have the saudis and the iranians stepping in and both have different political agendas the qataris can step step in and say you know what we have very good relations with the iranians and we are now mending fences with you we can use that as an asset to step in and narrow differences between the saudis or pride themselves on being the protector of sunni islam and the iranians are proud of themselves on being the protector of shia islam you know in this part of the world if you can manage to contain that issue of the 6 tarion divide you would be able to solve many problems at the same time there is no other nation in this part of the world which has stronger relations with turkey which is widely seen as one of the most important regional allies in the muslim world a regional players in the muslim world and globally. the qataris and the cutters could use that particular acid to say we can talk to the turks we can also help build bridges between the between the turks and the saudis and the amount of his and the egyptians and the bahrain is you know one of the biggest problems in following the crisis was the prevailing sentiment inside arabia u.a.e.

and egypt that one of the biggest problems they were facing is the growing influence of turkey and they have been accusing turkey of being one of the keeper supporters of political islam and in particular the muslim brotherhood which has been a key player you know all those factors that have been playing in the mix for quite some time in this part of the world the key to those problems here today in the lower it just takes a few moments to handshakes a genuine debate and a think you will solve those problems the moment with washington live now from iowa could be the moment could have huge repercussions of the region and there is the man of the moment the emir of catarrh shake. to me bin have a tiny who in fact is coming down the steps to meet the crown prince of saudi arabia moment been some are we expect no handshake because of it but certainly.

corrected there is a. problem that says more than anything else how should these be times to do that now wow that really is the moment look at exactly what happened the moment they think this said to themselves you know what because of the cold with respect here's a social distancing but however we come from this part of the world where the traditions say that you have to hug each other not only shake hands and when you hug each other you send a strong signal to everybody this time is genuine this is not a window dressing we're not here just for a photo opportunity we are here determined to solve the problem and let's start with where the heart and i think this is exactly what happened look at the 2 people who are now leading the both delegations they are very young leaders of 2 powerful nations with a huge political and financial influence not only in the region but all over the world if that can come together set aside their own differences i think you would

see a huge impact playing out in the near future indeed of course the emir of qatar. bought his car now to take him to the venue of course. might have been some waves him off indeed there's been a lot of behind the scenes negotiating you know for all of us who are watching this just this this conference doesn't happen overnight to get all the main players here has taken a lot of diplomacy because in other at other times senior figures have not attended the g.c.c. certainly in the last 3 years because of this impasse it can't be stressed enough how important this particular meeting is and its 41st year. while india this is this is this is quite significant. because what happens right after this so hey they will meet in an area called the. concert hall perhaps the

biggest middle building in the world that was built in a lot of this is an area in saudi arabia known for the past day in a cities they're talking about before weiss huge dynasties they had huge financial and political clout in this part of the world and this falls into a mission by accomplished mohamed been said meant to reinvent the kingdom to pave the way for to boost tourism to open up the country and to introduce major reforms and this explains why we're seeing this event happening in a loner not in riyadh or injured there were traditionally where you would have those a landmark gatherings and the think this was his own touch his own message to the international community and to the world that's what you are going to see. is a message that i'm genuine about in a major transformation not only in saudi arabia but also across the region but this as you write this said came about following

a long political process where the kuwaitis have been very instrumental and when also the americans have been asking or the key players.