Qatar and Bahrain - Research Paper Example

? Qatar and Bahrain Prior to the era of oil, there were little efforts by Gulf s in territory delineation. Arab tribemembers were loyal to their tribe (shaykh) and had a tendency of wandering across the Arabian Desert in relation to their livestock’s needs. There was no thought of commitment to a distinctive political body and official frontiers had little or no meaning. Systematic authority existed only in oases and ports. However, in the 1930s, there was the onset of borders’ delineation, which was the direct result of the endorsement of the initial oil concessions. The British had defined the national borders, but they did not demarcate most of these boundaries properly, which left prospects for conflict, particularly in regions that had the most expensive deposits of oil. In the Gulf, British- controlled forces saw to it that there was peace and order, and British officers settled local disputes. Nevertheless, this was not until the year 1971 when these influences as well as officials withdrew, resulting in the inception of suppressed ethnic hostilities as well as old territorial claims. The impetuous significance of boundaries in defining oil deposits’ ownership as well as the notion of the modern state that the European supremacy pioneered into the Gulf States stirred up heightened territorial disagreements (Library of Congress Country Studies, 1993). Introduction Boundary problems comprise one of a succession of dilemmas in the region of the Arabian Gulf. Moreover, they mirror tensions in the region. Amongst these problems, the conflicts between Qatari and Bahraini were the most serious. The source of this clash dates back to the nineteenth century when Great Britain fully controlled the Arabian Peninsula’s eastern region. This dispute affected the relationship between Qatar and Bahrain as well as threatened Gulf Cooperation Council’s existence (Karam, 2007). An important point of disputation was the Bahraini claim to Al Zubarah on Qatar’s northwest coast and to Hawar and the neighboring islands 40Kms south of Al Zubarah. The conflict has been very complicated stemming from the dynastic scuffles in addition to ancestral enmities of Qatar and Bahrain’s ruling houses when both directed parts of the Qatar’s peninsula. It has severally made them want to fight, and it has been an enduring problem not only for both emirates’ British protectorate but also for Saudi Arabia and Gulf Cooperation Council, endeavoring to maintain peace in the region (Theestimate.com, 2001). Although both parties concur with the fact that in the 18th century (prior to ousting the Iranians from Bahrain), the Arab clan of the Al Khalifa had inhabited Al Zubarah and that they inhabited Bahrain some years afterward, they differ regarding the prevailing subsequent legal circumstances. The Al Thani, Qatar’s ruling family, disputed strongly the claim by Al Khalifa to the ancient area of settlement presently in the hands of the Qatari over and above laying claim to the Hawar (inhabited by Bahraini) and neighboring islands, very close to Qatar mainland but over 20Kms from Bahrain (U.S. Department of State, 2012). According to Qatar, in the year 1937, Bahrain illegally and clandestinely occupied the Islands of Hawar. On the other hand, Bahrain insists that its leader was only carrying out legitimate works of exercising control in his own region. Qatar’s Ruler presented the British Government with protests through a letter dated May 10, 1938. He was protesting against what he referred to as Bahrain’s irregular action against Qatar and earlier in February 1938, he had already referred to this issue in Doha where he had a talk with the Political Agent to Britain in Bahrain. The British Political Agent later wrote Qatar’s Ruler on 20 May the same year, asking him to express his case on Hawar as soon as possible. The latter wrote back on 27 May 1938 and on 3 January 1939, Bahrain presented a counter-claim. Qatar’s Ruler then presented the British Political Agent with his statement on the counter-claim of Bahrain in a letter dated 30 March 1939. On 11 July 1939, the British Government ruled that the Islands of Hawar was the property of Bahrain (International Court of Justice, N.d). In the year 1946, the Bahrain Petroleum Company Limited asked the British government for consent to drill in particular regions of the continental shelf but the British Government refused to grant them this permission, considering the fact that some of these areas might be the property of Qatar. The permission could only be granted once the seabed between Qatar and Bahrain was fairly divided. After studying the issue, the British Government sent two letters to Bahrain and Qatar Rulers on December 23, 1947, indicating the line that it deemed to have split the seabed in question in line with equitable principles. In the letter, the British government also indicated that the Bahrain’s Shaik held sovereign rights in the regions of the Jaradah and Dibal shoals, and over the islands Hawar unit. The government also noted the fact that it did not regard the Island of Janan as being part of the islands of the Hawar unit. In the year 1971, Bahrain and Qatar stopped being British-protected States and on September 21, 1971, both were admitted to the UN (Kwiatkowska, 2003). Prior to ousting the Iranians from Bahrain in the 18th century, the Arab clan of the Al Khalifa had inhabited Al Zubarah (U.S. Department of State, 2012). However, the Al Thani Qatar’s ruling family, disputed strongly the claim by Al Khalifa to the ancient area of settlement presently in the hands of the Qatari over and above laying claim to the Hawar (inhabited by Bahraini) and neighboring islands, very close to Qatar mainland but over 20Kms from Bahrain. In the spring of the year 1986, the Qatari rekindled the seething dispute when their helicopters took out and abducted workers building a Bahraini coast-security station on Fasht ad Dibal, a reef off Qatar’s coast. The 1986 dispute made Saudi Arabia to step up in mediation helping the two countries to come to a delicate treaty, with the Bahrainis agreeing to take their installations away (Theestimate.com, 2001). It is important to note that for many years, Saudi Arabia’s efforts to mediate the dispute did not yield any success. This is because the relations between Qatar and Saudi had been fractious and they had long endeavored to forward the case to the International Court of Justice but Bahrain, maintaining on regional mediation, kept resisting (Theestimate.com, 2001). In the year 1991 however, following Qatar’s institution of proceedings to allow the International Court of Justice in the Hague to make a decision on whether it had control, the dispute erupted once more. Bahrain rebuffed the court’s jurisdiction, and dispute remained unsettled even during the beginning of the year 1993. Each of the two parties complained that their respective marine ships had troubled the other's while in disputed waters (Library of Congress Country Studies, 1993). By the end of the year 1996, following a declaration that the Bahrain Government had arrested two nationals of Qatar charged with spying at the beginning of December, the relationship between Bahrain and Qatar became sourer. The government of Bahrain subsequently acquitted the two men. In retaliation, the government of Qatar publicly accused Bahrain of taking part in the failed coup attempt in February. In December, Bahrain boycotted the yearly summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council convened in Doha at which members made the decision of coming up with a quadripartile committee consisting of member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council that were not part of the conflict in order to come up with a solution (Eur, 2003). Eur (2003) further explains that the committee’s efforts of fostering enhanced relationship between Qatar and Bahrain yielded a degree of success. Moreover, meetings between prominent government ministers from the two countries in Manama, Bahrain; the UK; as well as London in the months of February and March of the year 1997 led to the declaration that by mid 1997, Bahrain and Qatar would establish diplomatic relationship at ambassadorial level. In early April, Qatar announced its selection of ambassador to Bahrain, but Bahrain did not reciprocate. Earlier on, hostile media coverage of the dispute dissapeared because okf these contacts, although little further advancement was made. in the year 1998 April, Bahrain alleged that the eighty-two documents that Qatar had submitted to the International Court of Justice supporting its claim to territorial rights as well as sovereignty were forgeries. The Court directed Qatar to come up with a report on the documents' authenticity. When Qatar submitted the documents, four experts disagreed on their views regarding the documents and Qatar declared that it would withdaraw them. Soon after the death of the Bahraini Amir in the year 1999 March, the relationship between the two countries remained tense. however a notable improvement was evident by the end of that year - Qatar and Bahrain agreed to develop financial and economic co-operation, to exchange ambassadors, to come up with a joint commitee that would endeavor to resolve their conflict, and to facilitate tourism as well as travel. by Marchof the year 2000, the two countries had reportedly named their ambassadors. In the months of May and June of the same year, International Court of Justice hearings on the two countries' territorial conflicts started. Bahrain at that time suspended the joint committee pending the court's ruling (International Court of Justice, N.d). In March of the year 2001, the International Court of Justice came up with its verdict, which was binding and despite being more favorable to Bahrain, both countries accepted it, which marked a more co-operative phase of their relationship. The court awarded Qatar with the shoals of Fasht ad-Dibal and awarded Bahrain with Hawar islands. It also confirmed Qatar’s rights to navigate freely through the main islands of Bahrain waters between the main islands of Bahrain and Hawar, and the jurisdiction of Qatar over Zubarah. The new maritime borders offers Baharin with the prospect of new hydrocarbon finds in the country’s territorial waters; and safeguards the ownership of Qatar of the giant North Field gas reserves from claims by Bahrain. The two countries declared that they were satisfied with the verdict and started working on and enhancing their mutual co-operation particularly in the economic field (Kwiatkowska, 2003 and Theestimate.com, 2001). The border issue settlement led to the development of several joint projects and in the year 2001 September, Qatar and Bahrain signed a memorandum of understanding to construct a causeway, which they refer to as the ‘friendship bridge’ joining them. Moreover, they signed an oil and gas co-operation agreement (Kbr.com, 2010). In spite of the fact that the International Court of Justice settled Qatar versus Bahrain territorial conflict in the year 2001, the relationship between the two countries has remained strained for a long time. Tensions escalated on May 8 2010 after the coast guard of Qatar shot and wounded a fisherman from Bahrain who had gone into Qatar's waters. After this, the arrests increased with reports from the Ministry of Interior of Bahrain indicating that henceforth, there has been the arrest of fishermen almost on a daily basis. The government of Qatar has severally tried numerous Bahraini sailors for illegally entering in Qatari waters, imposing fines of up to the 26,530 dollars or imprisoning them for a period of one to two months. Reports from analysts indicate that since Mohammad al-Mutawa became the Gulf Cooperation Council’s secretary general as nominated by Bahrain, conflicts between Bahrain and Qatar have heightened. Mohammad al-Mutawa is a former information minister of Bahraini during the Hawar islands’ territorial dispute and is therefore disliked by Doha. Earlier on, Bahrain had suspended the Al Jazeera satellite channel’s local operations claiming that it had contravened media rules, following the airing of a program about poverty in Bahrain by a television station owned by the Qatar government (Riyadh, 2010 and Reuters, 2010). Conclusion Apparently, the Gulf has had many disputes along its borders, although only a few have been as complex as that of Qatar and Bahrain. The struggle between the two countries goes on to this day. Evidently, a major component of the dispute had to do with oil exploration rights as well as dynastic and tribal enmities. This enmity, like many others in the Gulf region, has been overlaid with clashes over deeds undertaken in the British colonial period, legal and geographical disputes, British-Ottoman conformities as well as oil prospect. The International Court of Justice confesses the fact that in its history, the dispute between Qatar and Bahrain has been the longest and that reaching a verdict in this case is complex since it is crammed with geographical, historical, as well as other disputes. References Eur, (2003). The Middle East and North Africa. London: Rutledge. International Court of Justice, (N.d). Maritime Delimitation and Territorial Questions between Qatar and Bahrain (Qatar v. Bahrain). Retrieved from http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/index.php?sum=443&code=qb&p1=3&p2=3&case=87&k=61&p3=5 Karam, J. (2007). Boundary Dispute between Qatar and Bahrain. Journal of social sciences. Kuwait: Academic publication council – Kuwait university. Kbr.com. (2010). Qatar Bahrain Causeway. Retrieved from http://www.kbr.com/Projects/Qatar-Bahrain-Causeway/Qatar-Bahrain-Causeway.pdf Kwiatkowska, B. (2003). The Qatar V. Bahrain Maritime Delimitation and Territorial Questions Case. Durham: IBRU. Library of Congress Country Studies, (1993). United Arab Emirates. Retrieved from http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+ae0061) Reuters, (2010). Bahrain: Qatar steps up arrests of Bahrain-based fishermen/ Saudi Arabia steps in to mediate. Retrieved from http://www.itnsource.com/en/jp/shotlist/RTV/2010/06/08/RTV1448910/?v=1&a=0 Reuters, (2010). Qatar steps up arrests of Bahrain fishermen – group. Retrieved from http://af.reuters.com/article/idAFLDE64N0XP20100526 Riyadh, (2010). Saudi Arabia to mediate in Bahrain-Qatar row. Retrieved from http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2010/05/27/109794.html Theestimate.com, (2001). The Bahrain-Qatar Border Dispute: The World Court Decision, Part I. retrieved from http://www.theestimate.com/public/032301.html US Department of State, (2012). Background Note: Qatar. Retrieved from http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5437.htm Read More