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Bahrain emir on goodwill visit to Qatar

MANAMA: Bahrain's Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa will travel to Qatar on Thursday, in another sign of improved ties that had been strained for years by a border dispute between the two Gulf Arab neighbours.

The official Gulf News Agency said on Wednesday that Sheikh Hamad's visit was at the invitation of Qatar's Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, who paid a brief visit to the island last month.

"It must be an encouraging sign. We believe it is a very encouraging development," a Western diplomat said.

"It must be encouraging that the two countries are having these close contacts to improve the atmosphere" the diplomat said.

The two Gulf Arab states are locked in a dispute over small but potentially oil- and gas-rich islands in the Gulf, including the Hawar islands, controlled by Bahrain since the 1930s but also claimed by Qatar.

Qatar in 1991 unilaterally took the case to the International Court of Justice, which is expected to start oral hearings on the case in May.

Qatar and Bahrain last week pledged not to let the long-running border dispute undermine relations between them and have agreed to set up a joint committee to try to resolve the problem.-Reuters