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 understand how this works, but
'northeast' could be 'ne' (abbreviation) and 'ne' is found within the answer.
'arabia' could be 'ar' (abbreviation in Chambers) and 'ar' is present in the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'the' is the 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" .)