Qatar emir to make first trip to Ramallah: Palestinians

Qatar's Emir Sheikh Hamid bin Khalifa al-Thani will visit Ramallah for his first ever trip to the West Bank later this month, Palestinian officials said on Sunday.

"The visit of the emir of Qatar has been confirmed but the date of the visit hasn't been determined yet," Nabil Abu Rudeina, spokesman for the Palestinian presidency, told AFP.

"The agreement on the visit came during a meeting with (Palestinian) president (Mahmud) Abbas in Doha last week," Abu Rudeina added.

While no final date has been set, he said the trip was expected to take place before the end of this month.

The emir's visit will be the second by an Arab leader to Ramallah this month, after Jordanian King Abdullah II met with Abbas for talks on December 6.

The trips come after the Palestinians obtained upgraded status at the United Nations last month, winning non-member observer state status, over the objections of Washington and Israel.

In October, the emir made a landmark trip to the Gaza Strip, the first such visit by a head of state since the Islamist movement Hamas took over the territory in 2007.

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