DUBAI, Oct 6, (AP): Qatar’s foreign minister arrived in Abu Dhabi and met Wednesday with its crown prince, the clearest sign so far that relations between the two Gulf Arab states are easing following a lengthy embargo that strained ties and echoed across the region. The United Arab Emirates’ staterun WAM news agency reported that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan received Qatar’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani at al-Bahr Palace in Abu Dhabi. The brief report said only that the two “discussed the strong ties between their countries and ways to enhance them to serve the interests of their nations.”

Relations between the two, however, have been anything but strong since mid-2017, when the UAE was part of a four-nation boycott of Qatar to try and force the small gas-rich nation to stop its support of Islamist groups like the Muslim Brotherhood and its offshoots, which Abu Dhabi views as a direct threat to its ruling system. Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Bahrain were also part of that boycott effort aimed at pressuring Qatar, including demands it curb ties with Iran