Close to the northeast part of Arabia (4)
I believe the answer is:
near
'close to' is the definition.
(close to means nearby)
'northeast part of arabia' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'northeast' could be 'ne' (abbreviation) and 'ne' is found in the answer.
'arabia' could be 'ar' (abbreviation in Chambers) and 'ar' is present in the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'the' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for near that I've seen before include "Miserly and proximate" , "Close to - stingy - approach" , "Close, not far away" , "Close in time or place" , "Close-fisted - approach" .)