Dubai: Qatar belongs to Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani on Wednesday named a Saudi Arabian ambassador after Riyadh in June restored the messenger to Doha, in another sign of an enhanced bond after adding a long-time dispute.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain decided in January to restore political, trade and travel bonds that had been interrupted in mid-2017 on charges of supporting terrorism, references to Islamic groups, which were denied by Doha.
Saudi Arabia and Egypt have established diplomatic relations with Qatar, but UAE and Bahrain have not done so.
All but Bahrain has recovered a trade and travel link.
Sheikh Tamim’s office said in a statement that Bandar Mohammed Al Attiyah was named Ambassador Riyadh.
Al Attiyah previously served as Qatar Ambassador to Kuwait, who had been mediated in the bay conflict.
Qatar has last month appointed an ambassador to Egypt, following a similar step by Cairo in June.
Saudi Arabia has led among the four in improving ties with small Qatar but rich in gas, scoring goals with the key allies of the United States while also standing to benefit economically because it tries to lure more foreign investment.
In January, heeded the wishes of US President Donald Trump to rebuild Arab’s front against Iran, and wanted to impress the new President Joe Biden, Riyadh stated that it ended the boycott and said the three allies were on board.
But a senior UAE official said it would take time to rebuild trust while Bahrain and Doha had not held bilateral talks intended to improve bonds.