Originally Posted by IAN-UK

The move away from entrenched animosity between the ruling families began almost 30 year's ago when palace coups in Doha (1995) and Manama (1999) brought young Western-educated emirs to power, replacing their conservative fathers. Nevertheless, in spite of rulings by the International Court of Justice, territorial disputes involving islands and a fort located on the NW coast of Qatar remain issues which fuel mistrust and periodically bubble up as a traditional focus of ill-will between the two states.

Until 2002 Qatar was a joint owner of Gulf Air, based in Bahrain. It was the first of the GCC owners to withdraw from the Gulf venture.