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Some $35bn worth of potential deals were announced during the Omani leader’s two-day state visit to neighbouring UAE, with the project to develop a rail link between Sohar port and Abu Dhabi now officially up and running – and among measures that could help improve previously sometimes strained relations.
The opening of another field hospital in Chad and talk of a ‘foreign legion’ project have led to renewed focus on the UAE’s involvement in the Sudan conflict and Abu Dhabi’s efforts to extend its influence in Africa and other parts of President Mohammed Bin Zayed’s ‘near abroad’
Manama will host the meeting of League of Arab States leaders on 16 May
Prince Salman Bin Hamad Al-Khalifa travelled to Mecca in early April for talks with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and also sat in on MBS’ meeting with the visiting Pakistani prime minister.
Former minister Najah Al-Shammari is alleged to have fraudulently claimed benefits in Sweden at the time he was serving as defence minister in the Baghdad government.
Bahrain’s ambassador to the UAE Sheikh Khalid Bin Abdulla Al-Khalifa held meetings with rulers and crown princes in the five northern emirates over a four-day period in mid-March
Amnesty International has criticised a draft version of the Penal Code for Discretionary Sentences, which was leaked online in July 2022. The legislation sets out strict punishments for what are often vaguely-worded crimes and fails to guarantee freedom of expression or religion – which caused a diplomatic incident in early March involving a delegation from the US Commission on International Religious Freedom
Kuwait's recently-appointed emir travelled to the UAE in early March, following on from trips to the other members of the Gulf Co-operation Council in the opening months of the year
A relatively rare phone call between Bahrain’s King Hamad and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim on 3 March followed signs of progress being made on the long-delayed Friendship Bridge project to create a physical link between the sometimes feuding neighbours.
Sheikh Khalifa Bin Abdulla Bin Hamad Al-Khalifa has been named as Bahrain’s ambassador to Amman, in the latest refresh of heads of missions.
A trade deal between the UAE and Cambodia came into force in early February, just weeks after negotiations were finalised for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with Costa Rica, as more of Abu Dhabi’s preferred Cepa deals are unrolled.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mid-February tour of the UAE and Qatar followed the signing of big energy supply deals and the release of former Indian naval officers sentenced to death in Doha for spying.
The Saudi government’s Public Investment Fund has been signing contracts with more lobbying and communications specialists, as it continues to face political scrutiny over its investments in the United States.
Bahrain has set up diplomatic relations with Vanuatu and Qatar with Tonga in a continuation of the trend for Gulf states to expand their diplomatic and development ties with small Pacific Island nations.
Hassan Al-Shehi has presented his credentials, to become the first UAE ambassador in Damascus since 2011, adding further to a bilateral relationship that seemed broken when Abu Dhabi supported opposition groups in the Syrian civil war’s early years.
