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Qatar’s move to become the biggest shareholder in Barclays Bank continues its love affair with the City of London, although the London/Doha axis may not be an all-consuming passion. The London Stock Exchange’s failure to become Doha Securities Market’s key partner raised City eyebrows after the DSM decided that NYSE Euronext should take up one quarter of its equity, in a $250m deal, rather than the LSE, which has been 15%-owned by Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), run by Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al-Thani (HBJ), since last September.

Late April saw the marriage of Sheikh Jassim Bin Khalifa Al-Thani – thought to be the Emir’s younger half-brother – to Sheikha Mariam Bint Abdullah Bin Mohammed Bin Ali Al-Thani.

The court of Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahayan (MBZ) takes on a new status and a clearly defined role under reforms announced by the emirate’s Ruler and UAE President Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed.

Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa has already promoted a twenty- something, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, to heir apparent; GSN has regularly highlighted his role in the emirate’s fast-paced development.

Through history Kuwait has energetically asserted its independence, while Iraqi nationalists have jealously eyed what Saddam Hussein called his ‘Nineteenth Province’.  Cross-border connections run deep, and these are impacting on business today

UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al-Nahayan has taken over responsibility for border issues, including the difficult frontier dispute with a hitherto intransigent Saudi Arabia.

The accession of Dubai’s new ruler to the federal premiership has produced one of the most important government reshuffles in 35 years. It is a clear declaration of intent, a pointer to the evolution of national development strategy but also a completion of the leadership change effectively inaugurated with the November 2004 death of iconic founding president Sheikh Zayed.  

Sheikh Abdelaziz Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, the elusive elder brother of Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, has re-emerged in the US tabloid press, buying a luxury three bedroom apartment in New York’s Trump Park Avenue development for $6.2m.

Now Arafat has gone, his detractors in the Gulf could provide more substantial backing for the Palestinians as part of a wider peace effort.

Sheikh Khalifa Bin Hamad Al-Thani, who officially returned to Qatar in early October for the funeral of his wife Sheikha Mozah Bint Ali Bin Saud Bin Abdelaziz Al-Thani, is settling in. One sign that he is here to stay is that the former emir’s palaces in Doha, which have been empty since his exile in 1995, are being renovated.

While the world focused on the US move to confirm their small Emirate as a key hub in its global military strategy, effectively replacing Saudi Arabia, Qatari voters on 29 April overwhelmingly approved the new Constitution presented by Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani.

Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani on 15 April urged Qataris to vote in a 29 April referendum on a draft Constitution that will grant legislative powers to a 45-member Shura (Advisory Council), regulate ruling family affairs and lay out a separation of powers in a significant step towards democratisation in the GCC region. Once voted in, the Constitution is not open to amendment for a minimum period of ten years.

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.

Qatar’s future parliamentarians will have legislative powers, the right of veto over the budget and be able to scrutinise ministers — but only two-thirds will be elected, under the proposed new Constitution. One-third of the 45-member Legislative Council — probably including ministers — will be nominated by Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, who will decide when the Constitution is put into effect, probably by early in 2003.

The US public  was  shown  further  grounds  to  support  an attack  on  Iraq,  when  a  leaked  intelligence  report  suggested that  a  US Navy pilot  lost  in  1991  might  still  be  alive  and  in captivity. It touched on a topic of exceptional sensitivity in the USA — where  many  people  still  believe  missing  servicemen from  the  Korean and Vietnam wars  are  either  alive  or  were held  until  their  deaths.  It  also  forced  a  reluctant  Pentagon  to publicly admit that the Iraqi Air Force (IrAF) scored a single air-to-air victory on the first night of the Gulf War.