The New Arab and Al-Araby Al-Jadeed unblocked in UAE

The New Arab and its Arabic-language sister publication Al-Araby Al-Jadeed are now accessible in the UAE after censors lift a ban on a number of news sites covering the Middle East this week.

The websites of pan-Arab London-based The New Arab and Doha-based Al Jazeera Arabic, Al Jazeera English, and Qatar News Agency (QNA) were accessible to readers in the UAE on Tuesday, in a sign of improved relations between Doha and Abu Dhabi.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, and Egypt cut ties with Qatar and enacted a blockade on the country in June 2017 which began with the hacking of the QNA website and posting of fake news.

The Arab quartet accused Qatar of links to extremist groups and being too close to Iran, claims that Doha strongly denied.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Egypt also blocked public access to The New Arab in December 2015.

Since then, Qatar and its Gulf neighbours have mended ties at the Al-Ula Summit in January 2021, which saw a resumption of diplomatic relations.

This was bolstered during the Qatar 2022 World Cup, which saw the UAE host thousands of football fans and visits to the host country by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed.