The project, known as the “Friendship Bridge,” was first announced in 2008 to improve trade and travel among the Gulf Cooperation Council countries.
The Qatari-Bahraini Follow-up Committee agreed to restructure the board of directors of the two countries’ shared bridge and “to take the necessary steps” to implement it during a meeting in Manama on Tuesday.
The latest meeting marked the fourth such gathering between members of the follow-up committee, with the Qatari side led by Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ahmed bin Hassan Al Hammadi.
Bahrain’s Undersecretary for Political Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Abdullah bin Ahmed Al Khalifa was also in attendance.
The revival of the long-delayed causeway project was among the main topics on the committee’s agenda, Qatar’s news agency (QNA) reported. The state news agency described the move to restructure the board as a positive development.
“This step is expected to have positive implications for the growth and prosperity of both nations and meet the aspirations of their peoples,” QNA added.
The project, known as the “Friendship Bridge,” was first announced in 2008 with the aim of improving trade and travel among the Gulf Cooperation Council. The $3 billion project would connect Bahrain to Qatar’s northwestern coast, reducing travel from five hours to 30 minutes.
The bridge’s reconstruction stalled in 2017 when Bahrain joined Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt in severing ties with Qatar. The quartet had imposed an illegal air, land and sea blockade on Qatar, accusing it of supporting terrorism at the time.
While the crisis effectively came to an end in 2021 with the signing of the Al-Ula Declaration in Saudi Arabia, ties between Qatar and Bahrain took time to thaw.
In January last year, Qatar’s Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Bahrain’s Crown Prince Salman Al Khalifa discussed “outstanding issues” between both countries in the first high-level phone call since the 2017 crisis.
In April 2023, the two nations’ diplomats met in Riyadh where they officially re-established diplomatic ties for the first time since the region’s worst diplomatic rift.
The causeway project came back to life last November during a meeting in Manama between Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Bahrain’s Crown Prince.
Meanwhile, direct flights between Qatar and Bahrain resumed on May 25, 2023 after being suspended in 2017, though the two countries have yet to reopen their embassies in Doha and Manama.
Analysts had cited previous territorial disputes as one of the main reasons behind the delay in the resumption of ties between Qatar and Bahrain.
Doha and Manama were on the verge of war in 1986 over disputed territories, including the Zubura, Janan Islands and Fasht Al-Dibal.
Conflicts over the areas began as early as 1937 when an intervention by British colonial powers settled a dispute by demarcating the borders. At the time, the territories were said to be under “Britain’s protection”.
The two sides were then advised to raise the feud at the International Court of Justice in The Hague in 1990. The court requested evidence from Qatar and Bahrain to rule on ownership of the territories.
The case lasted for a decade and ended in 2001 when the court granted Qatar sovereignty over Zubara and Jinan Islands, Haddad Janan and Fasht Al Dibal. Bahrain was given sovereignty over the Hawar islands and Qit’at Jarada.
