Qatar emir approves border accord with Saudis

Doha: Qatar’s new Emir Shaikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, on Wednesday approved border and anti-crime accords with Saudi Arabia, in another sign of improving ties between the two Gulf neighbours.

State news agency QNA said the emir endorsed an accord on cooperation between border authorities in Qatar and Saudi Arabia, and another on the fight against crime.

The two accords were agreed in March, weeks before Shaikh Tamim took over from his father, Shaikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, who abdicated.

Ties between the two Arab neighbours in the Gulf were often marked by mistrust and rivalry for regional influence under Qatar’s former emir.