QATAR GROK Daily News – Excerpts from International Media Reports
[Links to full articles were active on the date posted here]
Al Zayanis Nomination Expected to Ease Bahrain-Qatar Tension [May 28]
“Bahrain has named Abdul Lateef Bin Rashid Al Zayani as the next secretary-general of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The nomination announced late on Thursday is expected to put an end to a long and mostly silent dispute between Bahrain and Qatar, which had threatened to mar their relations and undermine the six-member GCC alliance. “The decision to nominate Al Zayani came in response to a letter His Majesty King Hamad Bin Eisa Al Khalifa received from King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques,” Bahrain News Agency (BNA) said. “The letter was handed over by Prince Mutib Bin Abdullah Al Saud, deputy commander for executive affairs of the Saudi National Guard. Bahrain highly values King Abdullah’s mediation and efforts to further enhance relations and strengthen mutual co-operation among GCC countries,” the news agency said. Al Zayani, a major-general who heads Bahrain’s public security, is scheduled to succeed incumbent secretary-general Abdul Rahman Al Atiyyah on April 1, 2011. His nomination will be officially confirmed at the next GCC summit in Abu Dhabi, the capital where the alliance was formed in 1981..” [Complete Report]
Qatar Airlines Challenges SAS routes [May 28]
“Business travellers to Asia can look forward to 5-star treatment if they fly with Qatar Airways, which has just opened a direct route from Copenhagen’s Kastrup Airport to Doha. Qatar spokesman Paul Johannes said the airline was banking on pulling in customers due to the many Scandinavian-owned businesses located in Asia. The airline is hoping its luxury offerings of a separate business class terminal at its new airport in Doha with a spa and massage room, gourmet restaurants and top-notch play and care areas for children will lure non-economy class flyers to choose it over Scandinavian Airlines. Although the new luxury airport will not open until next year, Qatar Airways is making use of the city’s current airport with four weekly flights from Copenhagen..” [Complete Report]
China, Kingpin in Africa, Turns to Mideast [May 28]
“China is negotiating with the Persian Gulf state of Qatar to sell an additional 10 million tons of liquefied natural gas a year, on top of the 5 million it already buys. This is part of Beijing’s drive to establish strategic energy links with Middle Eastern states as it has done in mineral-rich Africa over the last few years, challenging U.S. dominance of the oil-rich strategic region since World War II. Slowly, China is expanding its political and economic footprint across the region, with deals in Saudi Arabia, which now exports more oil to Asia than it does to the United States, and, among other projects, railroad contracts worth $2 billion in energy-rich Algeria. “China is … forging strong ties with regional powers and gradually challenging U.S.-Israeli dominance,” says Iranian analyst Richard Javad Heydarian..” [Complete Report]
