Qatari emir hails Trump’s ‘historic’ visit, signals deeper bilateral ties

By Rania Abu Shamala

ISTANBUL (AA) – Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani hailed US President Donald Trump’s visit to Doha on Wednesday as “historic,” affirming that it marks a turning point in the strategic relationship between the two countries.

“We had a couple of hours of a great meeting with the president, and we discussed many issues on our great bilateral relationship and the situation in the region,” he said during the signing ceremony of several agreements between the two countries.

“I think after signing these documents, we are going to another level of relationship between Qatar and the US.”

The two countries signed a host of key agreements in different fields, particularly in the defense and aviation sectors.

In the aviation field, Qatar finalized a major agreement of over $200 billion to purchase jets from US manufacturer Boeing.

On defense, the two sides signed a statement of intent on enhanced defense cooperation, alongside letters of offer and acceptance for the acquisition of MQ-9B unmanned aerial vehicles and the FS-LIDS air defense system.

A joint declaration of cooperation was also signed between the two countries.

“I just wanted to thank you, Mr. President, again for this historic visit,” Sheikh Tamim said.