Bahrain asks Qatar again for talks after first invitation is overlooked​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Bahrain asked Qatar for a second time to send a delegation for bilateral talks, Bahrain's foreign minister said on Tuesday.

The first invitation in January had remained unanswered.

In January, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt had agreed at a summit in Saudi's Al Ula to restore diplomatic, trade and travel ties with Doha. Links had been severed in 2017 over accusations Qatar supported terrorism, charges Doha denies.

Riyadh and Cairo have acted quickly to rebuild ties with Doha since the deal. All Gulf states, except Bahrain, have restored trade and travel links with Doha.

Issues regarding both countries' maritime borders had also flared up in recent months.

Qatar had detained and then released a Bahraini bodybuilder and two other Bahrainis who were on a fishing trip in open water. Qatar claimed that the men were in Qatari waters, but Bahrain denied that claim.

Bodybuilding champion Sami Al Haddad's detention was the third such recent incident.

Qatari authorities had also released a Bahraini sailor, who was arrested in December for similar reasons.

“Bahrain’s embassy in Oman confirmed that the Bahraini citizens have arrived there,” Bahrain's Ministry of Interior said at the time.

In a cabinet meeting that month, Manama accused Doha of confiscating 47 Bahraini fishing boats.

Airspace between Qatar and the other Gulf nations and Egypt involved in the rift opened soon after the Al Ula meeting with Manama opening its skies to Qatar on January 11. But shortly before the decision, had Qatar claimed that jets belonging to Bahrain's Royal Airforce violated its airspace during a military drill with Saudi Arabia.

Bahrain dismissed the allegations, calling them "irresponsible" and "baseless".