Gulf Cooperation Council

Saudi Arabia will reopen its borders and airspace to Qatar, U.S. and Kuwaiti officials said on Jan. 4, a major step towards ending a diplomatic rift that has seen Riyadh lead an alliance isolating Doha.

Turkey on Jan. 4 welcomed the end of a nearly three-year feud between Qatar and Saudi Arabia, as the two countries have agreed to reopen their airspace and borders.

"We welcome the agreement made to open land, sea, and air borders between Qatar and Saudi Arabia as of tonight," said a Turkish Foreign Ministry statement.

Leading Turkish defense and tech firm Aselsan is set to export a remote-controlled weapon system to the Gulf state of Bahrain.

Aselsan signed a sales contract with Bahrain to supply the advanced remote-controlled system for naval use, a company statement said Wednesday.

Romania's Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu on Thursday welcomed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani to discuss opportunities for developing relations but also the situation in the Gulf area, including a recent attack on tankers.

Prime Minister Viorica Dancila met on Sunday in Bucharest with Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, with the Romanian PM expressing the special interest of the Government in Bucharest to promote cooperation with the Arab states.

Bilateral economic and sectoral co-operation, as well as security at regional and international levels were subjects of talks in Doha between Romania's Prime Minister Viorica Dancila and Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani as part of Dancila's visit to Doha.

Prime Minister Viorica Dancila conveyed on Sunday, during a meeting with His Highness Sayyid Fahd bin Mahmoud al-Said, Deputy Prime Minister for the Council of Ministers of the Sultanate of Oman, the Government's commitment in strengthening cooperation, a press release of the Romanian Executive informs.

Prime Minister Viorica Dancila on Saturday started an official visit in the Gulf Area, in Muscat, the Oman Sultanate, and in Doha, respectively, the Qatar State, informs a press release of the Government sent to AGERPRES.

Romanian Foreign Affairs Minister Teodor Melescanu on Friday, on the sidelines of the participation in the general debates of the current UN General Assembly session, had meetings with counterparts of Antigua and Barbuda, Commonwealth of Dominica, the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, the Kingdom of Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and the Lao People's Democratic Republic.

DUBAI: Bahrain on Sunday announced it has discovered the largest oil and gas field in the history of the small kingdom, which unlike its Gulf neighbours is not energy-rich.

Authorities estimate the newfound reserves at "many times" the volume of Bahrain's only other known oil field, the state-run BNA news agency said.