Guinea president Alpha Conde on Sunday wrote to Saudi Arabia offering to mediate in the crisis Gulf between Riyadh and its allies in which they have cut ties with the tiny nation of Qatar.
The African Union Chair expressed sadness in the gulf feud which African nations like Chad, Senegal and Niger have recalled their ambassadors from Doha Qatar while Mauritania has severed ties.
Early this year, Conde was successful in persuading Gambia’s long-time ruler Yayha Jammeh to go into exile after losing elections.
In a letter to King Salman, Conde affirmed his readiness, as the president of the African Union, a Muslim country and a founding member of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), to mediate and work tirelessly with goodwill to find peaceful and rapid solution.
The Guinea president, whose country has strong ties with Saudi Arabia, urged the nations to patch up, as they are “brother countries” of his Muslim-majority country.
Saudi Arabia finances the building of mosques, schools and development projects in several majority-Muslim African nations.
Backed by US president Donald Trump, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and others have accused Qatar of supporting extremist groups. Doha has strongly rejected the claims but said is open to discuss to end the dispute.
Conde was part of an official delegation of Muslim leaders who travelled to Saudi during a visit by Donald Trump in May.
The crisis has raised deep concerns of instability in the region and on Sunday, Kuwait's foreign minister said his country would continue efforts to mediate a solution to the crisis.