Emir of Bahrain boycotts Islamic summit

The Emir of Bahrain says he will not attend a summit of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference in Qatar next Sunday, because of a territorial dispute between the two Gulf states.

The official Gulf News Agency quotes the Emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, as saying it would not be suitable for him to visit Qatar.

The dispute over the oil and gas rich Hawar islands brought the two countries close to war in 1986.

The International Court of Justice in Netherlands is due to decide on the dispute, which dates from colonial times, by the end of this year.

Tourism plans

Iran, meanwhile, has indicated it may boycott the summit in protest of Qatar's commercial ties with Israel.

It was not clear if Bahrain would send a lower-level delegation to the summit.

The Hawar islands are located off the west coast of Qatar, but are controlled by Bahrain, which now plans to develop them for tourism and investment.

Qatar says this is a breach of the 1987 bilateral agreement which forbids any change in the islands' status.

Bahrain, for its part, claims a strip of the Qatari coast called Zubara.

Correspondents say the row has held up economic co-operation between the two including plans for a causeway linking their coastlines.

Britain, the colonial power, handed the islands to Bahrain in the 1930s.

Many local people blame London for leaving behind a legacy of unsettled borders.