Bahrain–Qatar relations: Difference between revisions

Starting in 1936, Qatar and Bahrain were involved in [[territorial dispute]]s over the [[Hawar Islands]], Fasht Al Azm, Fasht Dibal, [[Qit'at Jaradah]], and [[Zubarah]]. In 1996, Bahrain boycotted the [[Gulf Cooperation Council|GCC]] summit hosted in Qatar, claiming that the last summit held in Qatar in 1990 was used as a platform to reiterate their territorial claims to the other GCC states. They also cited the [[Fasht Dibal conflict|1986 Qatari incursion]] in Fasht Dibal as a reason for not attending.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.upi.com/Archives/1996/12/07/Dispute-overshadows-Gulf-Arabs-meeting/2182849934800/|title=Dispute overshadows Gulf Arabs meeting|publisher=UPI|author=Thomas Hussain|date=7 December 1996|access-date=6 July 2015}}</ref> In December 1996, two Qatari citizens, Salwa Fakhri and Fahad Al Baker, were arrested on charges of espionage in Bahrain. During the trial, it was purported that Qatar had been involved in a prior spying mission which was uncovered by Bahraini authorities in 1987. In January 1997, a member of Bahrain's ruling family, Nasser Al Khalifa, defected to Qatar in a highly publicized instance in which he flew a Bahraini military helicopter to the Qatari capital.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ukdf.org.uk/assets/downloads/rs13.htm|title=Bahrain-Qatar relations at lowest ebb|publisher=UK Defense Forum|author=Colin Young|date=March 1997|access-date=6 July 2015}}</ref>