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Simpler tactics, softer targets and waves of recruits emerging from US detention have led to a resurgence of Al Qaeda in Iraq, demonstrated by the group’s ability to stage major co-ordinated attacks on an increasingly regular basis

Sultan Qaboos Bin Said Al-Said issued a decree on 26 May establishing an embassy for Oman in Mauritania. Two weeks earlier, Mauritania’s minister for foreign affairs and co-operation, Ahmed Ould Teguedi, had visited Muscat and met Yusuf Bin Alawi Bin Abdullah, the minister responsible for Oman’s foreign affairs. In March, Oman donated $1m to the World Food Progamme to support hungry families in Mauritania and Senegal, and, in early May, an Omani delegation focused on providing development assistance travelled to Mauritania.

Fujairah Ruler Sheikh Hamad Bin Mohammed Al-Sharqi on 19 September received participants of the Gulf Intelligence Energy Markets Forum at Rumailah Palace, including Iraqi oil minister Jaber Al-Luaibi.

Standard & Poor’s (S&P) on 17 February downgraded Saudi Arabia, Oman and Bahrain, which the ratings agency said reflected its expectations that oil prices would stay lower for longer. Downgrades of Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) sovereign ratings highlight the worsening environment for regional economies more than one year into the Saudi-led battle for oil ‘market share’. With several governments planning to increase foreign borrowing to counter rising deficits, downgrades add to the cost of loans and add to pressures on dollar peg currencies like the Saudi riyal.

Bahrain’s National Consensus Dialogue tentatively began on Sunday 10 February with a three-hour meeting between government officials and members of the political opposition in the opulent surroundings of the Al-Areen resort in Sukhair. Its chances of success, not good to begin with, were dimmed by violence on and around 14 February, the second anniversary of the uprising against autocratic rule.

The Financial Action Taskforce’s late-June meeting also decided that Iraq would no longer be subject to FATF monitoring under its global AML/CFT compliance process. This was a result of the “significant progress” made by Baghdad in addressing deficiencies previously identified by the FATF, the Paris-based group said.

US secretary of state John Kerry’s get-to-know-you tour of Europe and the Gulf spelled out the extent of the challenges facing US policy in President Barack Obama’s second term. Washington’s determination to ‘pivot toward Asia’ has grabbed the headlines, and the notion of loosening relationships with certain Gulf states might appeal.

Abdullah, the emir’s son by his third wife Sheikha Nura Bint Khalid Bin Hamad, recently celebrated his marriage

On 6 October, King Salman met Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdelaziz, attended by Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, trusted state minister Musaid Al-Aiban, finance minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf, foreign minister Adel Al-Jubeir and others. A day earlier, the king received Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

The mood of crisis in Gulf affairs, with decisions on a war against Iraq perhaps just weeks away, is proving a delicate test for the West’s readiness to promote a democracy and human rights agenda.

Veteran prime minister Prince Khalifa Bin Salman Al-Khalifa has undergone further medical tests, some three months after returning to his duties following an extensive period of care in Bahrain and abroad. In a 9 July statement, the premier’s court announced he had “undergone regular successful medical check-ups” without providing any further details.

On 20 April, Iraq held its first countrywide elections since the withdrawal of US troops in late 2011. The vote for provincial councils, widely touted as a litmus test for Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki ahead of parliamentary elections in 2014, was seen also as a test of how well Iraq’s political institutions and security forces could handle nationwide polls.

Qatar has decided not to go ahead with a previously announced purchase of three Boeing E-737 Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft, defence specialist Jane’s reported. The deal, announced at the Doha International Maritime Defence Exhibition (Dimdex) in 2014, was valued then at QR6.6bn ($1.8bn). It is not clear why the order has been cancelled or what alternatives the Qatar Emiri Air Force might be pursuing, if any. At present, the QEAF has no such capability.

Allegiance Commission chairman Prince Mishaal Bin Abdelaziz is apparently still in Europe after going to Geneva in late August (GSN 928/8). He had previously spent just one month in the Kingdom after visiting Switzerland in July and spending a month in New York on ‘special leave’.

A ruling is expected in the coming weeks by Canada’s Federal Court on a case brought by Daniel Turp, a law professor and former Quebec politician, to stop the export of light armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia – the latest sign of difficulty for Riyadh in buying arms from Western countries. If successful, the case will halt a C$14.8bn ($11.2bn) export order, which has been described by local daily The Globe and Mail as “the largest advanced manufacturing export contract in Canadian history”.