Qatari Emir and UAE foreign minister hold bilateral talks during Asia tour

(4 Nov 2014) Gulf leaders are continuing their tour of Asia. Qatar's Emir has been meeting China's premier, while the UAE Foreign Minister has been holding talks in Jakarta. Qatar's Emir meets China's Premier as part of his two-day visit to the powerful Asian country with the aim of boosting bilateral ties. Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani is in talks with Premier Li Keqiang at Beijing's Great Hall of the People. On Monday, Tamim was welcomed by China's president during an official ceremony at the same venue. During talks, both leaders agreed to build a "strategic partnership" between the two countries - according to an account of the meeting published by China's state-owned agency. Qatar and China reportedly pledged to hold regular meetings and boost cooperation in different areas, including the building of two key regional projects that Beijing has been pushing for: the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. Qatar also pledged support for the recently-announced initiative of establishing an Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, it's reported. The Emir will later travel to South Korea where he is due to hold talks with President Park Geun-hye on Wednesday. In Jakarta, UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan has been meeting his counterpart Retno Marsudi. The two agreed to strengthen cooperation between the two countries and increase trade and investment. "We also discussed the possibility to strengthen our relationship in the field of economics. Because as you know, the United Arab Emirates is one of our key partners in the region," says Marsudi. This is Sheikh Abdullah's first visit to Indonesia and he used the opportunity to criticise Israel's recent closure of an ancient Jerusalem shrine sacred to Muslims and Jews. After months of escalating violence, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday made his clearest attempt yet to cool tempers, saying he won't allow changes to a long-standing ban on Jewish worship at the Muslim-run site, despite such demands from ultranationalists in his coalition. Netanyahu's reassurances to Muslims came just days after the religious feud over the Old City shrine, known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as the Temple Mount, threatened to spin out of control. Israel closed the compound for a day last week, a rare move, after a Palestinian shot and wounded a prominent activist who has campaigned for more Jewish access to the site. Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan says: "We, the UAE believed that what the Israeli government is dealing with - especially when in comes to East Jerusalem, especially when it comes to Masjid Al Aqsa (the Al-Aqsa mosque), is madness." He adds: "We expect from the international community to challenge the Israeli government, to challenge the occupying forces in East Jerusalem in making sure that they (Israeli) cannot continue doing what they have been doing, especially in the last few weeks." Indonesia and the UAE are expected to discuss cooperation in political, economic, social and cultural relations - as well as the protection of Indonesian citizens in the United Arab Emirates. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...