Search results

Emir Sheikh Tamim made a two-day visit to Ethiopia in early April, his first since becoming ruler. He held talks with President Mulatu Teshome and Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn. Qatar has traditionally been close to Eritrea’s President Isaias Afwerki, who has been a frequent visitor to Doha. These relations have caused diplomatic tensions with Ethiopia in the past; in 2008, Ethiopia broke off ties, accusing Doha of supporting extremism in the Horn of Africa. Relations were mended only a few years ago.

Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and UAE Armed Forces deputy supreme commander Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan spoke to Austria’s young Chancellor Sebastian Kurz by phone on 27 July, to discuss ways to promote bilateral ties. The call followed a meeting between Kurz and minister of state and Adnoc Group chief executive Sultan Bin Ahmad Al-Jaber in Vienna on 22 June.

A flagship art show patronised by King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa’s wife Princess Sabeeka Bint Ibrahim Al-Khalifa and supported by development agency Tamkeen has been criticised by dealers and contractors who complain the organisation was chaotic and some participants haven’t been paid after the March 2017 second edition.

Gulf grandees arrived in Beijing for the Arab-China Cooperation Forum (ACCF) in early July, but the country that appeared to take the event most seriously was Kuwait, whose Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah was the only Gulf ruler to attend. The emir was in China from 7-10 July, holding bilateral talks with President Xi Jinping before heading on to the ACCF. In an interview with the local Xinhua News Agency, Sheikh Sabah said he hoped China would help to establish industrial and high-tech park in northern Kuwait.

The pool of potential successors to Sultan Qaboos Bin Said Al-Said is relatively small, due to the size of the ruling family, and succession laws which state the sultan must be a male descendant of Sultan Turki Bin Said and have Omani parents. The Al-Said have often married outside of Oman, discounting many of Qaboos’ relations (see main story and family tree). Three of Qaboos’ cousins – Assad, Haitham and Shihab Bin Tariq – are seen as the most likely to succeed him; a few other names are occasionally mentioned.

New owner of Malaga football club

Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani went on a three-country tour from 22-25 February, calling in on King Abdullah II of Jordan and two North African presidents elected in recent months, Kaïs Saïed of Tunisia and Abdelmadjid Tebboune of Algeria. The visit to Amman helped to cement the improving relations, which had been undermined when Jordan initially sided with Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE in the boycott of Qatar in June 2017; steadily warming ties since have included the creation of 10,000 jobs for Jordanians announced in August 2018 and an exchange of ambassadors last year.

Still convalescing in Morocco, Crown Prince Sultan Bin Abdelaziz has had visits at his Agadir palace from Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

While Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan is widely assumed to be the next UAE president – only the third in the federation’s brief history – there is slightly more conjecture about who will be next Abu Dhabi crown prince. Most observers expect Hazza Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the third of the Bani Fatima born in 1965, to be MBZ’s successor. Hazza, who is said to be especially close to MBZ, is currently vice chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council and national security adviser.

Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah flew to England on 8 August on a private visit, accompanied by his brother, deputy chief of the National Guard Sheikh Mishaal Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. The emir often spends time in London; in 2013, he was in both the United States and the UK in a private capacity from late August until early October. His trip to the UK followed a visit to Mongolia, where he arrived on 28 July, also on a private visit. While in Mongolia, he received the speaker of Mongolia’s Great Khural, Zandaakhuugiin Enkhbold, at his residence on 6 August.

Asma Arian, the German wife of Sheikh Talal Bin Abdelaziz Bin Ahmed Bin Ali Al-Thani, has sent an appeal on behalf of her husband to the United Nations special rapporteur on torture Nils Melzer. In a video released on Twitter on 15 April, she said the urgent appeal had been submitted on 12 March. Arian claims Sheikh Talal has been in jail in Qatar for seven years, is being held in “extremely harsh conditions” and the mistreatment has put his life in serious danger. She claims he has been denied access to medical care and to his family and lawyer.

King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa returned to Bahrain on 18 September after an official visit to China at the invitation of President Xi Jinping. It was King Hamad’s first visit to China at the invitation of the president, timed to coincide with the first China-Arab States Expo, whose opening ceremony in Yinchuan he attended. During his visit, on which he was accompanied by finance minister Sheikh Ahmed Bin Mohammed Al-Khalifa, he held talks with Jinping and Chinese premier Li Keqiang on “close co-operation between the two countries in various areas”, according to state news agency BNA. The visit was hailed by official media in Bahrain as a historical success, and a turning point in China-Bahrain relations.

First deputy prime minister and defence minister Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah is recuperating from his recent cancer treatment, choosing the Uzbek capital Tashkent for his convalescence. He was visited by National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem on 19 September.

On 11 October, defence minister Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) met Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Russian Grand Prix in Sochi. Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said they discussed bilateral ties and steps towards peace in Syria. While his Saudi counterpart Adel Al-Jubeir noted Riyadh’s concern over Russian military operations in Syria, he said the kingdom would increase co-operation with Russia to fight ‘terrorism’. Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said Putin thoroughly explained Russia’s position on Syria to MBS and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, who was also visiting Sochi, Putin’s favoured sporting resort.

Emir Tamim Bin Hamad is thought to have bought a $100m mansion in Istanbul, according to the Turkish press. A report in English-language Today’s Zaman on 28 March noted that the emir viewed the 64-room home on the banks of the Bosphorus while in Turkey earlier in March. It claimed that the property had been purchased on the emir’s behalf by a London-based real estate company owned by Mana Al-Hajri, whose daughter Anoud Bint Mana Al-Hajri is the emir’s second wife (married in 2009). According to Today’s Zaman, the property, known as Erbilgin Yalısı, was at one time owned by Ottoman Sultan Abdulhamid II’s son Sehzade Burhaneddin, who bought it in 1911.