Bahrain, Qatar Agree To Resume Diplomatic Relations After 2-year Blockade
Bahrain and Qatar are reinstating diplomatic ties for the second time in less than a decade, with experts divided as to whether the agreement will have staying power
Bahrain and Qatar agreed to resume diplomatic relations at a meeting in Saudi Arabia last Thursday. The decision to resume relations comes two years after Bahrain, along with Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates, agreed to end their blockade on Qatar that began in 2017.
The announcement was made at the second meeting of the Bahraini-Qatari Follow-up Committee, which was held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The coalitions were led by Sheikh Abdulla bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, undersecretary for international affairs at the Bahraini Foreign Ministry, and Ahmed Hassen Al-Hammadi, secretary general of the Qatari Foreign Ministry.
This reconciliation is the second in less than a decade between Qatar and Bahrain. In March 2014, Bahrain, along with Saudi Arabia and the UAE, withdrew their ambassadors from Qatar in response to Qatar’s support of Islamist groups. The countries returned their ambassadors in November of that year.
Thursday’s statement did not mention when embassies would be opened or when flights would be resumed. Before the 2017 diplomatic crisis, more than 10 flights passed between Qatar and Bahrain daily.
The other Gulf countries responded approvingly to the announcement. Saudi Arabia released a statement commending the resumed relations as a “step to achieve stability between the brothers.” Egypt and the UAE also praised the decision, as did US national security adviser Jake Sullivan.
(Kenan Kaplan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
In Bahrain and Qatar, the response was somewhat faint, although the speakers of the Consultative Council and Council of Representatives, the upper and lower houses of the National Assembly, Bahrain’s parliament, and some Qatari personalities, did commend the return of relations.
History of the Bahrain-Qatar dispute
The Bahrain-Qatar border dispute dates to 1937, when Qatari and Bahraini forces clashed over ownership of the Al-Zubara region in northwestern Qatar. The House of Khalifa, the ruling family of the Kingdom of Bahrain, had settled in the region in the 18th century.
Another conflict arose in 1986 when Qatar occupied Fasht ad Dubal, an island that Bahrain was using for oil extraction. The Qatari forces detained 29 employees who were working on the island.
In 1987, the two countries agreed to a framework agreement proposed by Saudi Arabia. The terms stipulated that if Qatar and Bahrain failed to settle the dispute through a comprehensive agreement, they would conduct subsequent negotiations under the framework of international law.
Bahrain and Qatar did turn to international law to resolve their dispute. During a 1990 Gulf Cooperation Council meeting, Bahrain agreed to Qatar’s request to refer the border dispute to the International Court of Justice.
The next year, Qatar approached the International Court of Justice unilaterally and demanded that the court redraw the maritime borders between the countries and support a declaration of Qatari sovereignty over several disputed islands. The issue was resolved in 2001, when the court declared that Fasht ad Dubal and the Al-Zubara region belonged to Qatar, while the Hawar Islands and Jarada Island belonged to Bahrain.
Tensions between the two countries remained even after the agreement. In 2005, Qatar refused Bahrain’s request to extend a gas pipeline between the two countries, despite its offer to buy gas from Qatar at standard prices.
After the 2011 Arab Spring, tensions between Bahrain and Qatar shifted to concerns around terrorism and regional stability, with Bahrain accusing Qatar of funding terrorism.
Steps toward resolution
Bahrain and Qatar have tried several times over the past two years to end the dispute, with support from Saudi Arabia. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has visited Bahrain several times, and Bahraini officials have made visits to Riyadh.
In July of last year, Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and Qatar’s Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani spoke on the sidelines of the Jeddah Summit for Security and Development in Saudi Arabia. They spoke again in December at the China-Gulf Cooperation Council Summit, also in Saudi Arabia, and at a January meeting in the UAE between leaders of Gulf Cooperation Council countries and other Arab states.
The turning point that accelerated the return of Bahrain-Qatar relations was a phone call from Bahraini Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa to the Qatari emir in late January, in which the two agreed that “officials from both countries will continue to communicate to achieve common goals,” according to a report from Bahrain’s state news agency.
After these discussions, a follow-up committee was formed in order to resolve the disputes between the two countries, with meetings to be held in Riyadh.
‘Historical differences cannot be easily bridged’
Hassan Eid Bu Khammas, chairman of the Foreign Affairs, Defense and National Security Committee in the Bahrain’s parliament, praised the agreement in a conversation with The Media Line.
We welcome the decision to restore diplomatic relations between the Kingdom of Bahrain and the sisterly State of Qatar, in accordance with the principles of the United Nations Charter and the provisions of the Vienna Treaty on Diplomatic Relations of 1961
“We welcome the decision to restore diplomatic relations between the Kingdom of Bahrain and the sisterly State of Qatar, in accordance with the principles of the United Nations Charter and the provisions of the Vienna Treaty on Diplomatic Relations of 1961,” Bu Khammas said. “The legislative authority supports all policies and initiatives that maintain security and enhance opportunities for cooperation and coexistence between the countries and peoples of the Gulf region.”
He commended the role of Saudi Arabia in “bringing the views of brothers closer, unifying ranks, and rejecting differences.”
The relations between Qatar and Bahrain stand on a huge historical storehouse of conflicts and fluctuations
Some experts are less optimistic about the long-term sustainability of the agreement.
“The relations between Qatar and Bahrain stand on a huge historical storehouse of conflicts and fluctuations,” Abbas Al-Murshed, a Bahraini researcher in political affairs, told The Media Line.
“Unless there is a real and clear agreement between the two countries on the maritime borders, and on the ownership of the oil islands, there will be no real reconciliation,” he said.
Mohammad Idris, a political researcher at the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, noted that the countries must work to resolve all previous disputes in order for the agreement to last.
“We hope that the resolution of the differences this time will not be temporary,” Idris told The Media Line. “The previous solutions were fragile. Now the solution must include all files, especially the maritime and water borders, and oil and gas wells.”
“Historical differences cannot be easily bridged, but a solution can certainly be reached between Bahrain and Qatar,” he said.
Saudi journalist Mohammed al-Sunaid emphasized the importance of reaching a long-term solution to create stability in the Gulf region.
“We cannot move forward with development in the region without resolving all disputes. Bahrain and Qatar are two neighboring and developed countries,” al-Sunaid told The Media Line. “We need stability and a solution to this dispute.”
